Taking The Hint
by Kasamyra
Summary: After being told to 'take a hint' by Naomi, Zack finally finds someone who is willing to explain to him what that meant. She is also willing to explain a lot more than that to him, and she comes to find that he is actually very adept in a lot of areas that she never would have guessed.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

Katherine James, better known as Erin, or Jamie in some cases, was running very late to work. Well, very late by her standards. She noted, as she rushed through the security checkpoint at the Jeffersonian, that she still had a half an hour until she was required to present herself to Dr. Lawrence, the current head of the Egyptology department, but she had really wanted to be the first intern to look at the new shipment of artifacts that had come in last night. The fastest route to the Egyptology department was to cut across the the Medco-Legal Lab wing, using the courtyard as a shortcut to the archaeological section of the building set aside to her department. She dodged around a blond woman who was walking too fast, then turned the corner toward the Anthropology section at a near run.

"Oh my god I'm so sorry," she said as she practically bowled over someone coming out of the Forensic Anthropology lab. "Oh Zach, it's just you."

"I feel as though I should take offense to that tone," Zach said, straightening himself. He was carrying two large containers and looked very confused about something.

"I just meant that I'm glad it's you I ran into and not someone else," she explained, backtracking. "Some of those lab techs get a little rude with people not in their own department."

"I understand," Zach said, nodding. Erin smiled at his obtuse attitude. She had met Zach on her second day interning at the Jeffersonian and had immediately taken a liking to him. There was just something about him that made her feel as though she had to take care of him. Maybe it was the fact that he rarely understood things that normal people took for granted, a side affect of his high IQ she guessed. And his puppy face probably had something to do with her need to protect him.

"Hey, was that Naomi from Paleontology I saw running down the hallway?" Erin asked, putting a name to the face of the woman she had run by earlier, just a little late. "Did she finally come talk to you?"

"She did," he said, nodding, but his face held a confused frown. "I don't understand what she said though. She told me to 'Take a hint' but I don't understand what that means."

"Oh, Zach," she said with a sigh, then she reached up to pat his head, though he was almost an entire foot taller than she was. "I'll explain it to you later. But you look like you're in a hurry and I'm late."

"Right," he said, seeming to recall that he was, in fact, in a hurry. "Bye."

"See ya later," Erin said, taking off down the hallway again, this time at a slightly slower pace so as to not kill anyone she ran into.

* * *

"Ms. James, may I have a word?" Erin looked up to see Dr. Lawrence standing over her work table. She had spent all morning, and most of the afternoon, cataloging and authenticating the artifacts that they had received that day. They were really beautiful pieces, there was nearly an entire tablet of hieroglyphs, the paint colors still visible, though many of the figures were illegible now. Erin had been removing pieces of dirt and rubble that had clung to the piece, and she had jotted down her best guesses as to the symbols so she could try to decipher it later.

"Of course Dr. Lawrence," she said, carefully setting the tablet back into its protective case, and only after it was closed, removing her gloves.

Dr. Lawrence rarely left his office after he gave out the assignments to the two current interns. The department was much smaller than many of the others in the Jeffersonian, mainly because most of the people employed in this unit were off on privately funded digs and research projects.

"Ms. James, you have been employed here for nearly three years now, correct?" Dr. Lawrence asked when they were in his office with the door closed.

"Yes Dr. Lawrence," she replied, smiling. "I interned for Dr. Reilley before she retired.

"As far as I was told, you came to intern here as a grad student and were expected to finish your dissertation within a years time, the end of which would see you become a regularly employed doctor of Egyptology," he said, and Erin had to hold back the sigh.

She had gotten a hundred lectures from her parents that had started out similar to this one, about how she was taking too long in school, she should have been done my now, how did she expect to make a living if she was too lazy to do the work and get her doctorate? The list went on and on.

Privately, she thought it was very hypercritical of her parents to say things like that since neither of them had more than a high school education, and she was paying for schooling herself. What did it matter to them if she took a few extra years to finish her dissertation?

"Yes sir, that is correct," she responded, resisting the urge to shift her weight from foot to foot.

"Then can you explain why it is that it has been three times that long and you are still working as an intern?" He asked.

"Sir, I don't understand what the problem is," Erin said, trying to keep her voice polite. "I'm a very good intern, I do exceptional work for you. Do you want to fire me?"

"Not at all Ms. James," he said, and she frowned in confusion. "This is a learning facility. You are no longer learning anything from us here and we would like to make room for another student to study here. I have recommended that, once you are certified, you are offered a permanent position here."

"Oh," she said, her thoughts rushing through her head almost faster than she could recognize them. One of the main reasons she had put off finishing her dissertation was because she enjoyed working here so much and she didn't want to start over as someones assistant in some small facility, which was where most people in her field without their own money to fund digs started out. "I… don't know what to say, sir."

"I was hoping you would say something along the lines of how much longer it will take you to finish your dissertation and graduate," he said, one of his eyebrows raised.

"Of course, sir," she said, nodding her head. "I can have my dissertation subject brought to you by tomorrow for approval. If you approve I can arrange to give my presentation in a couple months."

"So soon?" He asked, surprised at the short amount of time.

"I have been working on it for three years sir," she said, sounding a little impish now. "I have had plenty of time to conduct my research in that period."

"Excellent," he said, nodding. "Get it to me tomorrow then. You may leave for the day." It was an obvious dismissal, but she frowned at the idea.

"Actually sir, if you don't mind, I'd like to stay and finish the piece I have been working on," she said, hoping she didn't sound rude.

"Very well," he said, nodding as though he had expected the request. "I am leaving, and Paulo has already left for the day. You know how to secure the place so you may stay as long as you like." Paulo was the other intern. He had started almost four months ago and Erin had never had a conversation with him that lasted more than a few sentences. He was either very private, or he disliked her, she hadn't been able to figure out which yet.

"Thank you sir," Erin said, turning to leave the room. "I'll see you tomorrow morning."

She worked far later than she had meant to on the tablet. Every time she thought she had finished, she would find a new piece of dirt to profile, or a new groove, or a new fleck of paint. Judging by the first dozen flecks and particulates she had analyzed, the tablet was authentic, it had resided in a tomb that had been recently discovered, along with the other things they had been sent with that shipment and many more things that had been kept in Egypt.

The sun had gone down by the time she decided the tablet was well enough documented that she could leave. She made multiple copies of the different variations of hieroglyphs she had found so that she could take them home to translate.

* * *

"Katherine!" She turned around in the parking lot to see who had called her, though she recognized the voice.

"Zachary," she replied, waiting for him to catch up to her before continuing to her car. "Do you need a ride home today?"

"Yes, if you don't mind," he replied. Throughout the past three years she had been trying to get him to learn to drive, and he had constantly refused, which had somehow resulted in their current arraignment. At least three times a week he would stay late at the lab and come to her for a ride home. The other days he was at the lab, when he left on time, he got a ride home with the friend he lived near.

"Of course not," she replied, unlocking the doors. "It's on my way home anyway."

"Thank you," he said, putting his own work into the backseat at the same time she did, then climbing into the passengers seat.

"You know, I'd be happy to teach you how to drive," Erin said, closing her door and starting the search through her purse, which was actually more of a backpack, for her keys. "I enjoy teaching."

"No thank you," Zach said, frowning as she started the car. "I have no desire to be in control of a ton of metal."

"Alright," she said, backing out of her spot. "So tell me about Naomi."

"I've been informed that it is what Angela calls a 'guy to guy' type of conversation," he said, frowning out the window.

"Well a females insight into relationships can be very helpful," Erin said, used to having to reason her way to things when it concerned Zach. "As you are a male you will not understand the female's point of view in the way that another female is able to do so."

"I find no fault in your logic," he said, and she allowed herself a grin."About one month ago Naomi and I slept together and since then she has not returned any of my calls. I was under the impression that calling was the proper thing to do in such situations. Today I asked her about her avoidance and she told me to 'take a hint'. When I explained to her that I didn't understand what hint she was talking about, she told me that if she explained it, it 'would no longer be called a hint'. Then she told me to 'ask my friends, if I had any'. I asked Angela and Hodgins but neither of them did a satisfactory job of explaining what the hint was."

"People who are not as intelligent as you are have their own way of speaking," Erin said, feeling sorry for Zach.

"I've noticed that in the past but usually I am able to figure it out," Zach said, his face drawn in confusion. "Hodgins told me that Naomi is avoiding me because I did not please her sexually."

"That is most likely what she meant by 'take a hint'," Erin said, simultaneously feeling as though she should laugh, and feel sorry for Zach. "People like Naomi are used to a certain type of sexual partner," she continued, trying to find a good way to explain the situation that wouldn't make Zach feel bad, though she had realized long ago that he didn't react the way most people would to such situations.

"Yes, Hodgins also informed me that what I previously thought was kinky and wild is in fact, basic," Zack continued. Erin had to really fight that time to keep herself from laughing, though it was in pity, for the most part.

"Don't take it personally," Erin said, turning onto a busier street towards Zack's apartment. "Naomi sleeps with a lot of people. I can think of four at the institute that I know of besides you. You are just not her type."

"I'm not her type?" Zack asked, and Erin sighed, trying to think of a way to explain that now.

"People like Naomi have a certain type of person that they usually gravitate to when searching for new sexual partners. Naomi's type is the kind of guy who sleeps with lots of women and does not form any emotional attachment. You are too nice to fit into her usual type, which means that she will lose interest in you faster than normal."

"Usually I am described as too analytical or too logical," Zack said with a sigh. "I've never been described as 'too nice' before. I thought 'nice' was a quality that women appreciated in sexual partners."

"Some do," Erin said, shaking her head a little. "I don't think you are too nice, just too nice to fit Naomi's usual type of partner."

"What is your type of partner?" Zack asked. Erin snorted a little, glancing at him out of the corner of her eye. Coming from anyone else, that line would be consider a bad pick up line, but coming from Zack it was just curious.

"I don't know," Erin said, shrugging. "Not the same as Naomi's type, that's for sure. I dislike the jock type that Naomi seems to like. I usually prefer to be able to have an intelligent conversation with someone."

"But you think 'nice' is a good quality?" He asked, still frowning in thought.

"Yes. Nice is good. So is intelligent, romantic, and empathetic. And humor is good too," Erin said, making the turn into the long driveway up to the garage that Zack lived above.

"I tried to be all of those things in relation to Naomi," Zack said with another sigh. This one a little impatient that he wasn't understanding why Naomi hadn't thought those were good qualities.

"Naomi wants someone who has a lot of sexual experience," Erin said, giving one last attempt at an explanation he would understand.

"Oh," he said, and she felt a little bad for saying it that way. She pulled the car up in front of that garage just as she had many times before over the past three years, and waited until he got his things out of the back before putting it back into drive.

"Zack," she said, rolling down the window to talk to him. "Don't spend too much time being upset over Naomi. She isn't worth the time."

"I agree," he said, leaning down to speak into the window.

"Oh, good," Erin said, smiling. "You looked upset so I felt like I had to say something."

"I'm not upset, I was thinking actually," he said. "I have a proposition for you."

"Okay?" She said, tilting her head in curiosity. "Go ahead."

"I have come to the conclusion that I am undereducated in the area of sexual encounters," he said, and she raised an eyebrow, trying not to laugh again. His next words made her desire to laugh leave her completely. "I'd like you to teach me."

"Um, what?" She asked, knowing she had just heard him wrong.

"You seem to have a very good understanding of such situations," he began, and she was sure she looked like a deer caught in the headlights by this point. "You continuously tell me that you enjoy teaching. You just explained that your type fits someone similar to me, with a couple exceptions. Also, you are attractive, and one of my only female friends." She opened her mouth, then shut it again, not sure where to start.

"You think I'm attractive?" She asked, because that was the least surprising part of what he had said.

"Of course," he said, as though confused why she would ask. "You have very symmetrical features and your bone structure is excellent."

"Uh, well thanks then," she said. "Just to be clear, you want me to have sex with you?"

"I want you to further my knowledge in the area, yes," he said. "I have always lacked an understanding of interacting with women, and as you pointed out earlier, I think that is because I do not have a female perspective on the situation." Of course, her own words turned back on her.

"You want me to have sex with you so that you can pick up other women with better results?" Erin asked, and this time she couldn't hold back the chuckle at how ridiculous all of this sounded. If it were anyone but Zack, she would have driven away and probably done her best to avoid them in the future, but she was sure he didn't understand the situation he had put her into.

"I don't understand what you mean by 'pick up'," he said, frowning again.

"'Pick up' is another term for finding a sexual partner," she said, then sighed. "Look, I need to think about all this. Can I talk to you tomorrow?"

"Of course," he said, backing up from the window. "Thank you for taking me home. Good night."

"Night," Erin said, shaking her head as she pulled away from the garage. If it were anyone besides Zack, she would have immediately said no and not even considered it. But it was Zack. And he probably really did just want a learning experience.

The term, 'if it were anyone but Zack' had been popping up in Erin's thoughts more and more recently, though she wasn't sure why. She had always had a soft spot for him, just because of his social ineptness and puppy like qualities. And he was attractive. Maybe this wouldn't be such a bad idea. They already got along well, and as long as they both understood that there would be no emotional attachments, neither of them would be hurt by the situation. And it would be interesting. It had been a long time since Erin had had a sexual encounter of any kind, and it might be fun to teach someone the exact way that she liked things. Most guys didn't really care, or stick around long enough to find out how she liked things.

She was still thinking about how this whole situation had even occurred when she got home, which was why she almost missed the note taped to her apartment door. She unlocked the door, balancing her papers from work in one arm with her backpack hoisted over one shoulder, then grabbed the note with her other hand when the door was open. It was a single, blue shaded paper, which told her immediately that it was from her mother. Her mom always used that shade of stationary for some reason. She claimed it was more sophisticated, though Erin had no idea where she had heard that from.

She set her things down on the table before unfolding the note.

"Kathy," the note began, and Erin grimaced at the nickname that her mother insisted on calling her.

"I stopped by this afternoon to see if you wanted to get dinner with me, but you were gone, as always. With the amount of time you spend at that place I'm surprised you even bother having an apartment at all. Maybe if you put that much energy into your schooling you would have graduated by now and you could afford a place that isn't such a dump.

Love, Mom."

Erin glanced over the note a second time, then tossed it onto the table. Her mother left her a note similar to this one at least once a week. Usually on Thursday's, which was why she always made sure to work late of Thursday. Being at work was the excuse that caused the least amount of complaining from her mother. She considered telling her parents about getting her dissertation approval the next day, but if it wasn't approved that would just be cause for more complaint.

While her mind was on the dissertation, Erin hunted through her bookshelves for the subject introduction portion of her work that she could bring in to be looked over the next day, and made sure to set it on the table so she wouldn't forget it in the morning. She hadn't eaten since her late lunch that afternoon, but it was almost nine now, which was too late for her to make something, so instead she went through her end of the day routine of brushing her teeth, changing into pajamas, and laying out her clothes for the next day.

When all of this was done, she got comfortable on her bed with the hieroglyphs from that day spread over her lap. She got to work with a pen, writing down all the possible variations of each symbol's meaning, but was only able to translate a few words. The rest had been too faded to get an accurate shape of the letters. She set them on the far side of the bed, then turned her lamp off and slid under the covers. If she agreed to Zack's idea, she would have to keep her work somewhere besides the unused side of her bed, which was currently cluttered with various books, tools, non valuable artifacts, and papers from work, along with a few clothing items.

She almost got up to continue working when she realized that she had already decided to tell him yes. Maybe if she focused on her work for a while longer she would change her mind. But it was late, and she was determined not to get caught in traffic the next morning.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Erin had arrived at work nearly an hour and a half early the next morning, and after putting her things in the Egyptology department, she found herself standing just inside the entrance of the Forensic Anthropology lab, looking around with interest. She had never actually set foot in this lab, and she was interested to see that the dress code was much stricter here. Everyone she saw was wearing the dark blue lab coats that the Jeffersonian issued. In her department, they were only worn when going over very old artifacts. The rest of the time, they were permitted to wear casual clothes.

"Can I help you?" A lab tech asked, noticing her standing there with a lost expression.

"I need a word with Zack Addy, if he's here," Erin said, watching the bustle. "It's not important though, so if he's busy I can come back later."

"I think he's here," the tech said, looking up onto the platform. "I'll ask him if he's busy. Dr. Brennan isn't in yet so he should be free."

"Thanks," Erin said, tucking her hands into the pockets of her jeans, feeling underdressed. She was standing off to the side of the door by the time Zack came over to her.

"Erin," Zack said in greeting, and she was glad he hadn't called her Katherine, as he insisted on doing most of the time.

"Sorry to bother you at work," she said. "We can talk later if you're busy."

"I'm waiting on results from Dr. Hodgins, so I'm not currently busy," he said, and she nodded, gesturing for him to follow her to the side of the lab, in a less occupied section.

"I thought about your… proposition," she began. "And I will agree, but I'm going to teach you about relationships as a whole, not just about sex. It all goes together and it's all equally important."

"I agree to your terms," he said, nodding. She snorted at his professional attitude towards the situation, then sighed.

"I have a few more conditions," Erin said, glancing around them. "I'd prefer that you didn't tell people about this whole… thing. Most people don't think like you do and when people are judgmental, they can be hurtful."

"Okay," he said, nodding to that too. "Anything else?"

"Yes," she said. "I just want to make sure we both agree on things. There won't be any emotional attachments okay? If either of our feelings start to change, the whole thing ends immediately."

"Emotional attachments?" He said, and she sighed.

"Yeah, you know," she said, shrugging. She wasn't uncomfortable with the subject, she just wasn't exactly sure how to put it into words he would understand. "When your brain releases Dopamine and Serotonin and Adrenalin it can lead to the formation of… stronger feelings, like love. I just want to specify that if that happens, the learning experience is over."

"Oh. That is acceptable," he said, nodding.

"Also, we are doing this my way," Erin said. "If you don't understand the reasoning behind anything, you have to ask."

"Okay," he said, and she smiled.

"That's all," she said, glancing toward the door. She was a little uncomfortable in the unfamiliar setting. "We are starting today. I will get you from your house at six and we are having dinner at my apartment."

"Alright," he said. "I will see you after work." He turned to go, but then turned back to her. "I am not good at lying. What should I say if Angela asks? She is very observant and seems to know things that no one tells her."

"Just tell her we are 'friends with benifits' but don't give her any details about anything," Erin said after a moment of considering. "Tell her that I say that private life should remain private. She will understand, probably."

"Okay," he said once again, then went back to work. Erin still made it back to her department before either the other intern or Dr. Lawrence arrived for the day, and she was grateful that she worked in a small department. It was quiet and much less stressful than the lab had seemed.

* * *

"Ms. James, a word?" Dr. Lawrence asked from the doorway to his office. She almost sighed, but Paulo was nearby and he would have heard. As it was, he gave her a short, curious look. She went to the office, feeling a little nervous, since she was sure this would be about the dissertation proposal she had left on his desk that morning.

"Yes Dr. Lawrence?" Erin asked, standing beside the desk.

"Take a seat," he said, gesturing to the chair across from him, then waiting until she did so. "I reviewed your dissertation topic."

"Will you approve it, sir?" She asked when he didn't continue speaking.

"I will," he said, nodding, and she relaxed. "It is an interesting subject that I haven't seen before and it seems that you have done quite a bit of research. I have no doubts that you will be certified. I'm arranging your presentation now. I'll let you know the date when it is issued."

"Thank you Dr. Lawrence," Erin said, grinning. He dismissed her after that, but she kept the grin throughout the day.

When she left for the day, once again taking her pages of hieroglyphs with her, she remembered to stop by the grocery store to pick up things for dinner that evening. She wasn't sure what Zack liked, since she had only ever seen him eating macaroni and cheese at lunch time, so she had settled on a somewhat plain meal of chicken, rice, and baked beans. She probably wasn't the best cook, but she could handle those things easily.

She kept her work clothes on, deeming them proper for an at home fake date, and spent the time between arriving home and going to pick up Zack making her apartment more organized. It hadn't been messy to begin with, but she had a habit of leaving the things she was currently working on out where she would easily find them again, for example, her bed or the dining table. Those areas she straightened away, then put the chicken into then oven before leaving to pick up Zack.

"Hello," he greeted, climbing into her car. He was also wearing the same thing he had worn to work, a plaid long sleeved shirt over a t-shirt, and jeans.

"Hi," she said, puling down the driveway again. "I hope you like chicken."

"I do," he said, nodding. "Why are we having dinner?"

"Relationships usually start with dates," Erin said, resisting the urge to smile at the question. Any other guy would have known that. "Most people want to get to know each other a little before they engage in sexual activity."

"We already know each other," he pointed out, frowning.

"We know each other as friends," Erin replied. "When the relationship dynamic changes, other things change too. Besides, we don't actually know that much about each other."

"I suppose," he said, frowning. "So we engage in small talk and eat dinner, and that is considered a date."

"Yes," she said, smiling. "And maybe there will be kissing, but that's as far as you should go on the first date."

"Naomi and I never went on a date," Zack pointed out as Erin pulled her car into her parking space in front of the apartment building.

"Yes, well, Naomi is kind of a slut," Erin pointed out, then immediately felt bad for saying that. She didn't like Naomi, she never had, but Zack had liked her, at least a little.

"Oh that makes sense," he said, surprising Erin into a laugh as they climbed the stairs to her floor.

"Why do you have a piece of paper taped to your door?" Zack asked,

arriving at the door before Erin.

"Do I?" She asked, frowning. Two visits in the same week from her mother was strange. She unlocked the door, then reached out and pulled the paper off the door before entering the apartment behind Zack. Judging by the smell of the chicken, they still had a little time before it was done cooking. She dropped her purse by the door, kicking off her shoes too. Zack followed her motions and removed his shoes also, then followed her to the table, where dishes and things had already been set out. "You can sit, I'll go check on dinner."

The rice was kept warm by the rice cooker, and everything else was already prepared, so she went back to the table to read over today's note.

"Kathy," again, Erin grimaced at the name.

"I stopped by again today because it's been over three months since the last time I saw you. I can smell you cooking dinner, so I know you are home right now, and just ignoring me. Since it seems you have decided that you don't need me and your father in your life, I will not be stopping by anymore. I hope you know how disappointed I am, but I suppose it's my fault for raising you incorrectly. I don't know where I went wrong with you. Your sister turned out fine.

If you decide you don't want to completely cut your family out of your life, you know my number.

From Mom."

Erin sighed and rolled her eyes at the letter. Sure she avoided her mom when possible, but that was because of the lectures, constant disappointed tone, and what Erin called the 'dying swan' act, where her mother would try to guilt her into doing things by acting hurt when she wasn't. Apparently her mother had forgotten about their coffee outing last month, and the lunch the month before that. Erin made sure to visit at least once a month to avoid the accusations of abandonment, apparently she had waited too long this time.

"Is everything alright?" Zack asked, reminding Erin that she wasn't alone right now. "You look upset. Social protocol dictates that I ask." Erin chuckled, tossing the note onto the stack of them that she had moved from the table to the kitchen countertop that afternoon.

"My mother is just very difficult to get along with at times," Erin settled on, not feeling like explaining the entire situation.

"I see," Zack said, nodding. "My family is also difficult for me to get along with because we do not understand each other most of the time. I only visit them because I know they love me."

"That is a good reason," Erin mumbled, thinking over the note again. Maybe she should just suck it up and spend some time with her mother even though it was unpleasant. She was sure that her mom loved her. Deep down. A little. Probably.

The timer on the stove went off, letting Erin know the chicken was finished cooking, so she got up to bring everything out.

"Chicken and rice and beans was one of the meals my mother enjoyed cooking the most," Zack said when they had settled down at the table. Erin smiled.

"It's very easy to do, thats why I picked it," she said. "I'm not very adept at cooking."

"My mother made it because I have a lot of siblings and between all of us, we ate a lot of food," Zack said, taking a bite of his food. He didn't complain about it, which Erin took to mean that he liked it.

"How many siblings do you have?" Erin asked, glad she had found a subject to continue the conversation.

"I have 4 sisters and three brothers," Zack said, then frowned. "Is this part of the 'getting to know each other' that you explained earlier?"

"Yes," Erin said, smiling. At least he was a fast learner.

"Oh," he said, frowning in thought. "Should I ask you about your family in return then?"

"You can," Erin said, chuckling.

"Do you have siblings?" Zack asked, nodding to himself, as though proud he had understood the situation.

"Yes, I have a younger sister," Erin said. "Her name is Elizabeth. She joined the Air Force directly out of high school. She's stationed in Missouri right now, and she's going to college, majoring in Sociology."

"Sociology is a soft science," Zack said, shaking his head in disapproval. "Archeology is much more useful."

"My mom disagrees," Erin said, chuckling. "She thinks my sister is perfect."

"That's statistically impossible," Zack said, and Erin was suddenly no longer upset over her mothers note. She smiled, finding it ironic that Zack had actually succeeded in making her feel better as he was not adept at emotions at all.

"You know, you are actually good at small talk," Erin said, relaxing into her chair a little. She had thought this whole arrangement would be a teaching experience for her at the best. She hadn't expected to actually have fun with it. "You just have to find someone who understands what you are saying."

"I don't know what the protocol to respond to that dictates," Zack said after a moment.

"It was a compliment," Erin said, grinning in amusement. "You can just say thanks."

"Well then thanks," Zack said. They ate in silence for another moment. "Should we continue with the 'getting to know each other'?"

"Sure," Erin said, shrugging. "Any basic small talk is okay to start out with. If you already know of something you and the person you are with have in common, you can talk about that. Not work though, no one who understands you is going to want to talk about work, and the ones that do want to talk about work aren't going to understand what you do."

"Okay," Zack said, looking as though he was mentally taking notes, which Erin realized he probably was. "What subjects are acceptable then?"

"Anything that doesn't seem important to you," Erin said, chuckling. "Weather, hobbies, books, movies, art. Whatever you want."

"Okay," he said, frowning in thought again as he tried to think of a good topic. He was quiet for so long that Erin took pity on him.

"Lets start with hobbies," she said, then took another bite of rice. "Do you have any?"

"Hobbies are for people who do not excel at their work," Zack said, sounding as though he was quoting someone else.

"Nope," she said. "Try again. Try to respond in a way that won't offend your date."

"How was that offensive?" He asked, and Erin sighed. She was surprised that someone hadn't yet tried to punch Zack for saying the wrong thing without realizing it yet.

"Saying that hobbies are for people that don't do well in their work implies that people with hobbies are not intelligent," she explained. "Which might be your opinion, but calling someone stupid is not a good way to make friends."

"Oh," he said, understanding. "So I should instead say that I don't have any hobbies."

"That's better, but not quite," Erin said, smiling now. "Isn't there something you enjoy doing that's not related to work?"

"No," he said, shaking his head.

"Okay, is there something you can do well that isn't related to work?" She asked, taking a different approach.

"My mother forced me to take singing lessons as a child in an attempt to make me fit in with the other children," he said. "It didn't work well, but I'm good at it."

"Really?" Erin asked, honestly surprised by that. She couldn't imagine him as a singer. "That's good. Anything else?"

"I'm very good at designing and building robots," he said, thinking. "I excel at math as well."

"Okay, I can work with that," Erin said, thinking. "When you talk about 'hobbies' in the future, say that you enjoy singing and building electronics."

"I don't enjoy singing," Zack said. "I'm just good at it."

"I know," Erin said. "But if you say you enjoy singing, people can identify with you better. If they think they have something in common with you they are more likely to continue a conversation."

"Oh," Zack said, nodding. "What are your hobbies?"

"I draw," Erin said, surprised he had remembered her points about conversation even though he didn't understand the importance of idle conversation. "And I read a lot. And I occasionally crochet things."

"Okay," he said, and she laughed at the reply.

"When someone tells you about their interests, try to sound interested. If you don't know anything about the subject, ask them about it, or say that it's interesting."

"What if it isn't interesting?" He asked.

"It's polite to pretend it is," she said.

"I am not good at being polite," Zack said.

"I've noticed," Erin said, smiling wryly. "It's okay, you will get used to being polite eventually. I'll point out every time you aren't polite until you stop being rude."

"Okay," he said, nodding. "That might take a while." They had both finished eating by this point, and Erin stood from the table, then was surprised when Zack also stood to help clear the table.

"It won't take that long," she said, gathering the dirty plates while Zack picked up the leftover food. "You already know how to be polite." She gestured to the table.

"My mother said that a gentleman always helps with the chores," he explained. "I assumed that was her way of making sure the house stayed clean with all eight of us there." Erin laughed, going into the kitchen with the dishes. Zack set his things down on the counter, then stood awkwardly near the wall, unsure what to do as Erin put the leftovers into containers then into the fridge, and rinsed the other dishes then left them in the sink to wash later and gestured to Zack to follow her to the living room.

"What kind of movies do you like?" She asked as he took a place on the couch.

"I don't know," Zack said, shrugging. "I don't watch television often." Erin rolled her eyes, kneeling in front of her cabinet of movies.

"Zach, did you go on any dates when you were in high school?" She asked, though she was pretty sure he hadn't.

"No," he said. "The people I attended high school with didn't like me because I was smarter than them."

"Okay, well dates in high school are usually where most people learn how to conduct relationships," Erin explained. "One of the most common ways they do that is by 'watching a movie' which is actually code for 'making out on the couch'."

"Why don't they just say what they mean?" Zack asked, frowning.

"Because most people like to be subtle when talking about sex," Erin said, laughing. "I guess we can skip the movie then." She had thought that the 'movie and making out on the couch' would be a good place to start, but she had assumed that he had at least gotten that far in high school.

"Okay," he said, obviously confused now. Erin went to sit next to him on the couch, twisting a little so that she was facing him, though she left distance between them out of habit. "Now what are we doing?"

"Kissing," Erin said, grinning. "You've kissed a girl before right?"

"Yes," he said, not offended by her words as most people would have been.

"Well then you know how it goes," Erin said. She had thought she might feel nervous by this point, but Zack was just so different from most people that to her, this really did feel like a lesson, not like she was about to kiss one of her best friends. "Girls usually like the guy to make the first move."

She had thought he would ask a question about the 'make a move' metaphor, but instead he leaned forward and pressed his lips against hers for a moment. Erin's eyes closed automatically, but Zack leaned away quickly.

"Okay, there's a lot more to kissing than the actual kissing," she said after a moment.

"I don't understand," Zack said, frowning.

"Well, to begin with, there's your hands," she said, noting that he had kept his hands resting in his lap for the duration of their short kiss.

"What do my hands have to do with kissing?" Zack asked, frowning still. Erin chuckled.

"More than you'd think," she said, scooting closer to him. "There's a certain… anticipation to kissing that makes it more enjoyable." She lifted her hand to brush back the hair that had flopped into his face. He flinched at the contact. "Stop that, it ruins the mood."

"I'm sorry," he said, holding still when she repeated the motion. She sighed.

"Okay, close your eyes," she said, trying again. He did so, but she could tell that he was probably thinking about something else, since he had never really been an 'in the moment' kind of person. "Stop thinking."

"That's impossible," he said, frowning, though he kept his eyes closed obediently.

"Okay, focus on your feelings then," she said, frowning too. "You have feelings right?"

"I'm not a robot," he said, sounding a little hurt by her words. She had been a little sharp with him, it was just that usually things like this came from instinct and didn't have to be explained out.

"Sorry," she said, her voice softer. "Just… don't think about what you are supposed to do. Just do what feels like the right thing."

"I will try, but I don't have very good instincts," he said, again sounding as though he was quoting something that someone else had said.

Erin didn't reply, but instead she brought her right hand back to his hair, and leaned forward to kiss him. The hand in his hair went to the back of his head, pulling him closer to her, and her left hand found it's way to the side of his neck as well. He kissed her back, but his hands stayed stationary in his lap. She let her left hand brush over his shoulder and down the length of his arm. When she found his hand, she moved it to her waist, and his other hand followed suit a moment later, wrapping around her and coming to a rest on her lower back.

"Good," she said, pulling back a little with a smile. "The more you practice, the more you will get used to it."

"Like singing," he said, and she shrugged a little.

"Yeah, a bit like singing, I guess," she said. "But more instinctual."

"I don't rely on instincts much," Zack said, frowning.

"Well you should start," Erin said, shrugging. "Relationships are all about emotion and instincts. You can do whatever you want to when we are here. If I don't like it I'll tell you, that's how you'll learn best."

"Okay," he said, then surprised her by leaning forward to kiss her again. His arm had still been around her back, and he used it to pull her closer. She smiled into the kiss, her hands going back to his hair. His hands grew still after the initial movement, as though he didn't know if he was allowed to move them from their place. She leaned back a little, breaking the kiss.

"You can move your hands, you know," she said. "You don't have to stay still."

"I wasn't sure what was appropriate," he said, frowning. "You said that only kissing is allowed on the first date."

"I meant that more as a guideline so you knew what to expect from today," Erin said. "You can do anything you feel comfortable doing though." He raised his eyebrow at that.

"I know I am abnormal in the area of social conduct but I am a male," he said, and Erin laughed, realizing what she had said.

"Okay, maybe I've been going about this the wrong way," she said, getting to her feet. "From now on, we can do anything you want to do, whenever you want to do it, and I will correct you as we go, and you can ask as many questions as you want."

"Learning by doing instead of learning from a lecture and research has never been something I am good at," Zach said, but Erin could see on his face that this idea was more acceptable to him than going through things her way.

"Well since relationships are more about doing than they are about research, it seems as though this is the right way to go about things," she said, putting her hands on her hips. "If I know how you usually do things I'll know better how to help you. You can do your own research in your free time if you want. I suggest googling things you aren't sure about. Also, as weird as this sounds, go home and watch porn. You can learn a lot from it." He made a disgusted face at the idea, and Erin laughed again. "Consider it as homework."

"If I must," he said, frowning. "Is the date over now?"

"Yes," Erin said, chuckling.

"Am I going home now?" He asked, getting to his feet.

"If you want to," she said, shrugging.

"What is the alternative option?" Zack asked, frowning in confusion.

"I said we can do whatever you want," Erin said, shrugging. "What do you want to do?"

"Is this a trick question?" He asked, frowning.

"Uh, no?" She said, confused. "Why would it be?"

"Because you are offering to do anything I want to do," he explained. "And as I am a male and you are beautiful, obviously I want to engage in coitus."

"Okay," Erin said, holding up a hand for him to stop talking. "First, don't call it that. It makes it sound really unromantic."

"I don't know how to be romantic," Zack said, shrugging.

"Being romantic is easy," she said. "Just… make the person you are with feel like you appreciate them and that you would rather spend time with them than do anything else. Pay attention to what they do because usually people behave in a way that they want others to behave towards them. Pay attention to body language. It's not really something that you can learn, you either know it or don't, like a personality trait. But you are attentive and I've seen you read body language of people before so I think you will be okay."

She stopped talking as Zack stepped closer to her, curious to see what he would do after her slightly rambling speech. His hand raised to brush her hair behind her ear, mimicking her actions from earlier. His eyes stayed locked on hers, even though she hadn't told him to do that, and his hand fell to cup her cheek, then brushed down to her neck, moving her hair over her shoulder. Her eyes fluttered closed as a shiver went down her spine, and her lips parted a little. She could feel her heart beating quickly in excitement and nervousness, which was something she hadn't expected, but Zack really was a quick learner, and it no longer felt like a lesson.

Her hands moved to his waist out of reflex since he was standing so close to her, but as soon as she touched him, he drew back, his free hand holding one of her wrists. She opened her eyes in confusion and took a half step back.

"Accelerated heart beat and breathing, along with dilated pupils," he said, glancing at her face with what, on anyone else, she would have called a self satisfied smirk. She cleared her throat to speak, stepping back again.

"See, you already know how to be romantic," she said, trying to make this feel like she was still in charge. It had been a really long time since she had been with somebody. Over a year at least. That was affecting her judgment more than she had expected it to. "You don't have to stop to explain why you know you are doing things correctly though."

"Yes because talking ruins the mood," Zack said, frowning as he dropped her wrist at last. "Naomi said that too."

"Look, Zack, Naomi is kind of a bitch," Erin said, frowning. "Don't listen to the things that she said."

"But in my experience most people dislike talking while engaging in sexual situations," Zack said.

"It really depends what you are saying," Erin said, smirking.

"I don't understand," he said, frowning.

"Forget it, I'll tell you about it later," she said.

"Alright," he said. They stood in silence for a couple minutes. "So what should I do now?"

"Whatever you want to do," Erin said, smiling a little in amusement.

"I've never been given a 'free reign' as I believe it's called. I'm not sure what to do now," he said, shrugging.

"Anything is allowed," she said again, grinning at his hesitance. "You are in control for now." She briefly saw a look flash in his eyes, something that was familiar to her from her past experiences, and she smiled at the fact that she had finally gotten a normal human male response out of him, even if just for a second, and though the look was now gone, her heart continued to beat faster in anticipation as he stepped forward again.

She tilted her face up to his just as he leaned down to her, and her eyes closed again as his hands went to her hips and their lips met. Her arms went around his neck and she stood on her toes to be closer to him, her body fitting neatly against his. She couldn't help the gasp that came from her lips as he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her up a little. He was much stronger than he looked, as he was now supporting most of her weight, her toes just barely on the ground.

The kiss changed after that, shifting from exploring to hungry, and she was surprised to find that he was actually very good at kissing, he knew what to do with his tongue and everything. She supposed that was because it was easier to find girls to kiss than it was to find girls to have sex with. Or maybe it was just that since she had given him permission to do whatever he wanted, he was feeling more confident than usual. They kissed for another few moments, and then she could feel him hesitating, but not in an undecided way, more in a natural human male way. It was something she recognized as a fear of rejection, which she should have realized he would feel at some point, even though he was different than most guys she had known. She leaned back on her heels, not breaking this kiss, and moved her arms to his hips.

She slid her hands underneath the layers of his shirts as a way of silently telling him to continue, then she smiled into the kiss as she felt him jump a little at the contact. She ran her fingers over his hip bones, which stood out sharply because of how skinny he was, then let her hands move up his sides a little, lifting his shirts up a bit. He stepped back from her just a little, finally breaking the kiss, and she opened her eyes to see him looking down at her with an odd expression.

"What's wrong?" She asked, not moving her hands from the bottom of his ribcage where they had settled.

"I'm nervous, I think," he said, frowning. "It's not something I am used to feeling." She smiled in understanding, and stepped back a little too, her hands falling away from him so his shirt could fall back into place, then she smoothed it down so it was laying flat.

"Okay, another change of plans," she said. "We are going to do this my way the first time. After this you will be more comfortable around me and less nervous."

"Okay," he said, sounding confused now.

"You are staying here tonight," she said, going over to lock the front door.

"I don't have my toothbrush or night clothes here though," he said, and she chuckled again, flipping the lights off in the living room, then grabbing his hand to lead him back to her bedroom.

"I have spare tooth brushes in the linen closet and you don't need night clothes," she said, pointing out the linen closet as they passed it. "Now stop making excuses."

As soon as they made it to the bedroom, she turned to face him again. She had left the lights off, but the hall light lit the room enough that they could both navigate it without tripping over something.

This time she initiated the contact, leaning up to kiss him at the same time she pushed his plaid button down shirt off his shoulders. He either didn't notice, or didn't care when it fell to the floor. She broke the kiss to pull her own shirt over her head, which he definitely noticed. She saw his eyes roam over her newly revealed skin, but for some reason it didn't make her nervous as it usually would. She had always had issues with her weight, she had a very high metabolism and she would sometimes get so into her work that she would forget to eat for days at a time, so her ribs and collarbones stood out sharply, and her hips jutted out in defined angles.

Zach didn't touch her, as she had expected him to, and when she looked at his face she could see that he was nervous again. She gently grabbed his hand, moving it to her side and laying it flat against her skin. She kept her palm over the back of his hand for a moment to make sure he didn't move it away, then she reached up to pull him down for another kiss as a way to distract him from his nerves. His other hand went to mirror the one she had moved, but they stayed mostly stationary.

"Zack," she murmured against his lips, moving her hands back to the hem of his shirt. His fingers tightened a little into her sides, and she smiled a bit, realizing that he must like it when his name was spoken during sexual situations. She would keep that in mind.

"Hm?" He hummed, but didn't pull away from the kiss. She leaned back a little and lifted his shirt over his head, forcing him to lift his arms. His hands fell back to her waist when the clothing was removed, but didn't deviate from where she had put them before.

"You can touch me," she said, her voice low. "You don't have to keep your hands still."

He kissed her again to cut her off, but his hands began to move a little, coasting up to her ribs. She ran her hands over his chest, then skimmed her nails over his ribs and stomach, scratching lightly. She smiled when he shuddered a little in response, and then she had the sudden urge to figure out what else he would react to. She pulled away from the kiss and moved her lips over his neck, kissing underneath his ear, then the base of his neck, then biting the same spot lightly. She smiled when she heard his breath hitch. She ran her fingers along the waistline of his jeans, dipping them just underneath the fabric for a moment.

His fingers dug into her a little more, and she moved her lips to the hollow where his neck and collarbone connected, sucking lightly. She rolled her hips against his, and finally, he let out a little groan at the contact. She grinned, realizing that he really was just like any other guy when it came to the actual act of sex, it was just the emotional side of things he had trouble with, and the socializing part. He just had limited experience with sex, which led him to think that he was unimaginative in bed, but once they started getting into things, he did seem to rely on his instinct more and his knowledge less.

She gasped a little in surprise when his hands skimmed over her bra, then around to the back to undo the catch. He hesitated at her gasp, but she leaned up to kiss him as a way of telling him to continue. He was surprisingly quick at undoing the clasp, and she let the material fall to the floor, but he seemed hesitant to touch her now that there were no clothes separating their upper halves. She wrapped her arms around his neck again, pushing herself against him, and his hands went to her hips out of reflex. While they continued to kiss, she moved her hands down his chest to his belt, unbuckling it and unbuttoning his pants in one quick motion. He stepped back a little when he realized what she had done, but whatever he was going to say was lost as he took in her newly revealed chest.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Zack asked, and she was surprised to hear a hesitancy in his voice. "I mean, earlier you said that we wouldn't be having sex on the first date and now-"

"Zack, stop," Erin said, moving her hand to his face, brushing his hair back again. "You don't have any reason to be nervous so stop rambling. I want to have sex with you. Now."

"Okay," his voice had faded to a whisper now, and Erin frowned.

"What is it?" She asked, her hand resting on the side of his neck, her other hand on his hip.

"I find myself caring more about what you think of me than I cared about what Naomi thought of me," he explained, and she smiled. "I'm also not sure how to do 'just sex' without the feelings part. I'm usually very adept in rationalizing a situation and leaving emotions out of it, but it seems like there should be some sort of emotional connection here."

"Are you changing your mind then?" She asked, keeping the frown off her face.

"No," he said, glancing over her again. "I'm not sure what I'm trying to say. That is odd for me."

"That's okay, you can figure it out later," she said, smiling as she tugged him toward the bed. She didn't give him a chance to protest again, knowing he was only doing so out of nerves, but instead pushed his pants off his hips, letting them fall to the floor, which left him standing only his boxers. She pushed him back onto the bed so that he was sitting, then she shed her own jeans and pushed him farther back until she was kneeling over him, one leg on either side of his hips, and her hands supporting herself over him. She kissed him then, and his hands came up to run over her thighs, then hips, then ribs and breasts. She moaned into the kiss as his thumbs brushed across her nipples, and rolled her hips against his again in response.

Suddenly they were sitting up, one of Zack's arms wrapped around her waist to hold her in place, the other stretched out behind him to hold them up. His face was level with her neck now, and he copied her earlier motions, kissing along her jaw, then down her neck, grazing the skin with his teeth. She shivered at the feeling, then let out a squeak of surprise when he flipped them over so that her back was against the bed. Her legs wrapped around his hips automatically to pull him closer, and she could feel how excited he was through his boxers. Her hands pushed the fabric down, and she used her feet to slide it even further away while her hands wrapped around his length. She couldn't imagine what Naomi had complained about, he was a little larger than average, and Erin was definitely enjoying herself.

He groaned into her neck when she started moving her hand in slow strokes. Her chest rose and fell quickly as Zack's forehead fell against her shoulder, his breathing increasing as her hand sped up a little more. The only thing separating them now was her underwear, and she used her free hand to push them down a little, but she didn't have much success. Suddenly Zack's hands were there, ridding her of the material quickly, then he leaned back down to kiss her again. She had to admit that Zack actually taking control of the situation was unexpected, but it was pleasant, and he was very responsive to her actions, which was nice. It was easy to tell what he liked from his responses, some people were much harder to read.

When he was fully hard, she took the initiative of positioning him in the proper place, then moved her hands to guide his hips in the correct motions. Her eyes closed and he moaned as he entered her slowly. Too slowly for her liking. She rolled her hips again, forcing him deeper inside her, and smiled as he buried his face in her neck again. Her hands moved up his back, fingernails dragging against his skin, and she moved her hips back against the bed, then up again, moving for him since he seemed to be a little distracted. The skin on his back was very soft, she couldn't help but notice, and his shoulder muscles were tight as he used his arms to support himself over her. She arched her back so her body was pressed against his, continuing to roll her hips, bringing him in, then out again.

"Erin," he moaned, and she grinned into his hair, wrapping her hands around the arms on either side of her head. He had been leaning all his weight onto his elbows, but he shifted then, lifting his head to look at her face.

Something in his eyes made her breath leave her lungs. He looked… intense. Determined, maybe. He began to move on his own, his hips picking up an even pace, and he leaned down to kiss her. She moaned into the kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck, fingers clutching his hair as she lifted her hips to meet his rhythm.

After several minutes of an alternating pace of slow and quick thrusts, Erin felt the muscles in her stomach tightening, the pressure building in a way she recognized. Zack lifted his head from her neck, where he had been leaving little love bites and kisses, and his pace slowed as he met her eyes. He lifted his hand to brush her hair out of her face, then he leaned down to kiss her slowly, and suddenly, the entire situation felt too intimate to her. This no longer felt like 'just sex', not with the way he was kissing her now, and the way he had just looked at her. Not with the way his touch had softened, his fingers running down the side of her neck and across her collar bone, then along her arm. His hand entangled in hers, lifting her arm above her head, then the other hand followed that motion until both her arms were pinned against the pillow above her head and he was kissing her slowly, his hips barely moving now. Her heart pounded against her chest, almost aching, and her skin felt extra sensitive as she arched into him. The overheated skin of his chest and stomach felt too soft to her, and he released one of her hands to run his fingers tenderly down her side.

The sudden intensity and intimacy of the moment was what pushed her over the edge on his next thrust, and the fingers of her recently freed hand dug into his shoulder muscles, probably leaving scratches. She let out a moan as her muscles all tightened, then released.

She was breathing hard when she came down from her high, and the intensity of the moment made her desire to end this faster grow. She rolled him over quickly so that she was on top and sat up away from him. She rolled her hips quickly, picking up the pace again, and his hands automatically rose to her hips to keep her in place as he moved beneath her. It only took a couple thrusts at this new angle for his grip to tighten against her, fingers digging into her hips as he moaned out something inarticulate and his eyes squeezed closed as he released.

When his grip on her loosened, she climbed off him and layed on the bed next to him, panting slightly. They laid in silence for a couple minutes, both of them catching their breath.

"I don't really think I have anything to teach you," Erin said when her voice returned to her. "I don't know what Naomi was complaining about."

"That went much better than my time with Naomi did," Zack explained, his voice a little breathless still.

"I think you just needed practice," she said, sliding to the edge of the bed.

"I think you are very good at teaching," he said, and she could hear the smile in his voice as she looked around for her underwear, then pulled them on and went in search of a camisole to wear to sleep in.

She was surprised when Zack's arms wrapped around her newly clothed body from behind and turned her to face him. He leaned down to kiss her, and the nerves she had been feeling since the overly intimate moment earlier faded away a little.

"You are very affectionate after sex," she pointed out with a smile as he pulled back from her and went to search for his boxers.

"Is that bad?" He asked, pulling them on and going back over to her.

"No, not at all," she said, standing on her toes to peck him on the lips. "Let me show you where the tooth brushes are."

After pointing out the spares in the closet, she pointed out the guest bathroom, then made her way to the bathroom connected to her bedroom to brush the tangles out of her long hair. Her blonde hair, usually pulled back in a ponytail for most of the day, was very thin and tangled very easily. As she hadn't bothered putting it up this morning, it was extra hard to brush out now, but she managed it, and secured it into a bun.

She left the bathroom to find Zack standing in the doorway, looking unsure of himself.

"Come on," she said, patting the bed. "It's kind of late and I need to start putting my dissertation together tomorrow."

"I've never shared a bed with anyone before," he said, then frowned. "Your dissertation?"

"Yeah, you know, to graduate finally," Erin said, chuckling. "And never? Didn't you date people before Naomi?"

"Only one girl, in college, and we never actually slept together. In the same bed I mean," he said, frowning as he approached the bed. "Graduate as in become a doctor?"

"Yes," she said, wondering why he looked so confused by the notion of graduating. He was also a grad student. He would have to do the same eventually.

"And you will leave the Jeffersonian," he said, getting to the point. She was a little touched that he sounded so upset over that fact.

"No," she said, shaking her head as Zack climbed underneath the blankets. She went into the hall to turn the light off, then made her way back to the bed in the dark. "Dr. Lawrence, the head of my department, has offered me a full time job once I get my degree." She curled up against Zack, smirking as he jumped at the contact, then relaxed and moved so his arm was wrapped around her shoulders. She rested her head against his shoulder and let her arm rest over his stomach.

"That is good," he said, his voice relaxing a little. "You are one of my only friends. It would be unpleasant if you were to leave." Her breath caught a little at the implications in his words, but she let it go. "Why are we cuddling now?"

"After sex cuddling is like the best part of sex," she said, chuckling. "Your body is relaxed and your brain is full of chemicals. It's just nice to share that with somebody else."

"You are right," he said, his voice soft. She tilted her face up to kiss his neck, and smiled as he shivered at the contact.

"Plus after sex you're extra sensitive," she said, making her point again by dragging her fingertips gently up his ribcage. He shivered again, then lightly dragged his fingers down her back in the same manner she had done. She shivered, and his hand took up a soothing pace up and down her back. She sighed in contentment, closing her eyes.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

The next morning she woke up for multiple reasons. First, the sun was coming in her window at the exact angle to hit her face. Second, she was much much too warm, courtesy of a combination of her blanket, and Zack, who was still asleep next to her with his arm wrapped around her waist, and his legs tangled up in hers. Third, there was a loud knocking on her door.

"Zack," she said, poking his shoulder when his arm tightened around her when she tried to get up. "Zack, let go," she said, nudging him again.

"Erin?" He asked, his voice gravely from sleep. She detangled herself as the knocking started again.

"Shit," she said, realizing how early it was. "The only person who comes over here this early is my mom and she can't know you're here. She definitely wouldn't approve. Can you just stay back here for a bit please?"

"Okay," he said, not totally awake yet. She threw on her jeans from the night before, then went to get the door, kicking Zack's shoes into her coat closet as she went.

"Mom?" Erin asked, pulling the door open. "What are you doing here so early?" The woman at the door looked very much like Erin did, blonde hair, blue eyes, sharp bone structure. Her nose was smaller though, dainty, and she dressed in clothes that suggested she had a lot of money, though both her and her husband were middle class at best, both working as bank managers at different branches of the same company.

"Well I thought I'd have to be here early to catch you before you go running off after another old rock or something," the woman said, pushing past Erin to come inside the apartment. Erin rolled her eyes, but closed the door anyway, glancing down the hallway nervously. She hadn't shut her bedroom door all the way, and if Zack made any noise, she was sure her mother would hear it.

"You know I don't work on weekends mom," Erin said, sighing as her mother sat in the chair Zack had occupied for dinner the night before. "Do you want some coffee? Or tea? I was just about to make some."

"No you weren't," the woman said, sniffing in disdain. "You obviously just woke up. You know, if you didn't sleep in so late you might be more productive in finishing your schooling."

"Alright, tea then," Erin mumbled, walking into the kitchen to put some water on the stove.

"I came by to apologize for my note yesterday," her mothers voice carried to Erin as she got the cups out of the cupboard.

"Really?" She asked, poking her head around the corner in surprise. Her mother was looking around the apartment with her nose up at the slight clutter of books and things for work.

"Yes," she said, not noticing Erin watching her. "While you may feel the need to avoid me every chance you get, your father reminded me that we did in fact have coffee together last month, so my timeline was wrong." Erin rolled her eyes, going back into the kitchen.

"I wasn't avoiding you mom," she said, pouring the hot water into the cups and grabbing two tea bags. "When you came by yesterday I was out. I put dinner in then went to pick up a friend while it was cooking."

"That's very irresponsible of you," her mother said, dipping the teabag into the water daintily. "Your apartment could have burned down while you were gone. And then you would use that as another excuse to put off graduating. Have you even started to work on your final essay or whatever its called?"

"It's called a dissertation mom," Erin said, sighing. "I'll get around to it."

"You know, digging around in rocks is hardly a useful way to spend your time. You could be doing something worthwhile, like becoming a doctor."

"When I get my degree I will be a doctor," Erin said, unable to resist the comment though she knew her mother had meant a medical doctor. "And I don't dig around in rocks. As I've explained to you before, I analyze ancient Egyptian artifacts."

"I meant a _real_ doctor," her mother replied, rolling her eyes. "Looking at mummies is hardly useful either. They've been dead for decades."

"They've been dead for thousands of years mom," Erin said, but her voice was resigned.

"Now your sister on the other hand, she called me last night," he mother said, emphasizing the word sister.

"How is she?" Erin asked, interested again. She may not always like her mother, but Liz hardly ever had a chance to call them.

"She's engaged, to that boy she's been seeing. Mitch or Milcroft or whatever," he mother said, sipping the tea.

"It's Michael," Erin said, frowning.

"The point is," her mother said, speaking over the end of her sentence. "That Elizabeth has her life together. She's three months away from her next promotion, she's starting a family, she's protecting her country, and she still finds time to call her mother."

"I'm sorry mom, I'll stop by more often," Erin said, sighing again as she drank her slightly too hot tea too quickly.

"Don't bother, I know your busy with your rocks," her mother said, waving a hand in dismissal. "If your rocks are more important than family… well, your father and I will be here for you when you finally find a career that will support you."

"Thanks," Erin said flatly, setting her cup down a little hard against the table.

"I'll stop by again next week dear, maybe then we can go out for dinner," her mother said getting to her feet.

"Thanks for coming by, it was such a pleasant visit," Erin said, her voice dry and slightly sarcastic as her mother left the apartment. Erin shut the door louder than necessary before her mother could respond.

She stood in front of the door for a moment, her anger building, then she went back to the table and picked up her mothers cup, stared at it for a few seconds, then chucked it into the kitchen. She gripped the table tightly as the cup hit the wall and shattered, then she copied the motion with the other cup. She angrily threw her fist into the wall as she went to collect the broom from the cupboard. Nearly every time her mother stopped by Erin ended up breaking something to make herself feel better afterwords. Usually it was china, sometimes it was a dining chair, once it was a window, but that had been by accident.

"Erin?" Zack's voice made her look up in surprise. She had forgotten he was there. She glanced between him and the pile of china shards she had swept up.

"Uh, hey," she said.

"Are you okay?" He asked, frowning at her.

"Yep," she said. "Just, uh, dropped these."

"No, you threw them, I saw you," he said, and she sighed. "And your hand is bleeding. You should really clean that. Do you have a first aid kit?"

"Under the sink," she said, gesturing to the kitchen sink, then turning back to sweep the china pieces into the dustpan, then drop them into the trash.

"Come sit down and let me fix your hand," Zack said, gesturing to the dining room chairs. She sighed, but followed him to the table, then let him use a wet paper towel to clean the dried blood of her hand. Her knuckles were just a little scratched, nothing to make a big deal out of. They were both silent as he spread the antibacterial cream over her knuckles, then wrapped a bandage around them.

"Thanks," she said, leaning back in the chair.

"What your mother said was incorrect," Zack said, packing the things he had used back into the first aid kit.

"I'd rather not talk about it," she said, her voice quiet.

"Why didn't you tell her that you are almost done with your dissertation and already have a job offer?" Zack asked, frowning. "That's what she was upset about."

"It wouldn't have made a difference," Erin said, shrugging. "They never understood why I went into Geology, and they stopped paying for my schooling when I started majoring in Egyptology. I'm not my sister, so nothing I do is enough for them. It doesn't matter."

"It does if you are upset enough to cause yourself injury," he said, waving his hand toward her knuckles.

"It really doesn't matter," Erin insisted. "I excel at my work, I'm supporting myself financially on an internship pay, and whether or not she understands my interests doesn't affect how much I enjoy them."

"Very logical," he said, nodding. "I would believe you weren't lying if I didn't watch you throw china onto the floor and punch a wall out of anger."

"Zack," Erin said, her voice tired now. "I really don't want to talk about it. Please."

"Okay," he said, nodding. He turned to go back into the bedroom, probably to get the rest of his clothes as he was still only wearing boxers. Erin sighed. Last night had actually been fun, and this morning had completely ruined that mood for her.

"Zack," she said when she saw his back. She stood to go over to him and gently touched his shoulder.

"Does your shoulder hurt?" She asked, gently touching the scratch marks she had left there.

"No, why?" He asked, turning his head to try to see what she was talking about. "Oh."

"Sorry," she said, looking at the wall now. "I didn't mean to hurt you."

"It doesn't hurt," he said, then turned around to face her fully. "I can't remember a single time in the past three years I've heard you apologize for something so meaningless. I know you said you don't want to talk about this morning-"

"And I don't Zack, just let it go," Erin said, growing irritated again. He held up his palms in a passive movement.

"I was just going to say that even though I am not the most understanding person, you can talk to me if something is bothering you," he said. "That is what friends do, I've been told." She sighed, feeling bad for snapping at him now. She leaned up to wrap her arms around his shoulders in a hug.

"Thanks Zack," she said, sighing into his neck. "You're a very good friend."

"With benefits," he said, repeating her words from the day before. She chuckled as she pulled back, and wiped the sudden moisture from her eyes before it could form into tears. "Oh no," he said, drawing her attention back to him. "Did I say it wrong? Why are you crying?"

"No, no, I'm fine," she said, chuckling. "I'm just a little overemotional right now."

"That is because you are in the luteal phase of menstruation during which the body secretes progesterone which dismantles estrogen receptors causing declining moods, decreasing sex drive, negative responses to stress, and in some cases uncomfortableness," Zack said as he put on his clothes from the night before.

"Uh, how do you know that?" Erin asked, raising an eyebrow as she watched him pull on his clothes.

"I have four older sisters," he said, shrugging. "And I've known you long enough to recognize your patterns."

"You are… an interesting person," she said at last, pulling clothes out of her dresser to change into.

"That should have been a compliment but your tone suggests it was not," he said, frowning. She smiled and shook her head, then headed to the bathroom, leaning up to kiss him as she passed by. She had intended to surprise him, but his arms came out to secure her against him and he leaned down to deepen the kiss.

"I think you misled me," she said, stepping back from the kiss with a smile. "You already seem to be adept at sex and kissing. Did you only set up this situation as a way to get me to have sex with you?" Her tone was joking, but his face grew serious and thoughtful.

"The idea did cross my mind," he said and her jaw dropped in surprise. "But no, I was not dishonest with you. For some reason that I have not figured out yet, a relationship with you is much easier than I have found relationships to be in the past. Perhaps it is because you reminded me to rely on instincts."

"Well," she said, clearing her throat. "We can continue this as long as you want to. Practice is always good and I need a way to work out my stress that isn't destructive."

Whatever he was going to say to that was cut off as his phone started ringing. She went into the bathroom to change and give him a little privacy, but he was still on the phone when she left the bathroom.

"Just one moment," he said, then moved the phone away from his face and turned to her. "Can you take me to work, please?"

"Sure," she said, nodding. She may as well go in today too for a little while since she hadn't gotten any deciphering work done the night before. "Just give me a couple minutes."

"Yes I can be there," he said into the phone, then paused. "No, I'm not at home." Another pause. "Is that relevant?"

Erin chuckled as she left the room to gather her papers. She would take along some of her dissertation as well. While she had already finished all the research and writing parts and was practically ready to present it, she wanted to go through everything again, just in case she had made a mistake. She rearranged her backpack, taking out the thing she didn't need for the day to replace them with the things she did.

"Do you need to stop at home first?" She asked as Zack came out of the room.

"Yes, if that is okay," he said. She smiled and nodded, toeing her shoes on.

"Sure, it's on the way," she said, making sure she had all her things, then locking the door behind her.

* * *

She passed the rest of the morning alone in the Egyptology department where she felt the most comfortable. She had always enjoyed the musty, dust filled smell of the ancient artifacts, and despite the fact that her department was mostly in the basement, with the exception of the workroom on the first floor that contained Dr. Lawrence's office, and of course the actual exhibit in the public part of the museum. She preferred the basement by far. It was full of all the items that Dr. Lawrence didn't deem important enough to put in the exhibit, and all the newer items they had received, including the tablet Erin had been studying the past couple days.

The deterioration of the stone the glyphs had been carved onto kept her from being able to find out what was written there, but the parts she had been able to see led her to believe that it was a list of names, probably of the people who had been buried in the tomb the tablet had been taken from.

The Jeffersonian hadn't been allowed the mummies, even though it was a Jeffersonian team that had found the tomb. Museums in Egypt were very strict about what they allowed to be shipped out of the country, and even then, those items were usually only a loan out.

After doing all the work she could do on the tablet and the other new items, she left her paperwork for the next time Dr. Lawrence came in, and started work on her dissertation review.

Erin, realizing that she hadn't eaten breakfast, snacked on an apple from the basket of fruit she kept at her station.

"Erin?" The loud voice from the doorway of the department made her jump from her paperwork. There was light coming in the windows of the workroom, so she hadn't bothered with turning the overhead lights on, since she wasn't doing delicate work anyway.

"I'm back here," she called back, recognizing Zack's voice. She reorganized the various papers into one stack as he made his way through the rows of items separating the workroom from the door. "What's up?" She asked as he came to a stop in front of her desk. She leaned back in her chair with a sigh, she was tired today, a combination of being woken up early and then skipping meals.

"I was having a conversation with Angela earlier," he began, and she sighed, but smiled a little.

"What about?" Erin asked, knowing that the woman she hadn't met constantly said things that Zack didn't understand. In the beginning of their friendship, Zack had come to her at least twice a week with something Angela, or at rare times someone else, had said that he didn't understand.

"Well the conversation was pertaining to the case we are currently working on, but it remained me of something one of my sisters talked to me about once and I started thinking-"

"Zack, stop rambling," Erin said. Whatever was bothering him was making him nervous, an emotion she hadn't even known Zack was capable of until the previous night. "What is it?"

"Contraceptives," he said, looking at her. "We didn't use any." Erin had to resist an amused smile. His sister, or someone else in the years before Erin had known him, had obviously told him that birth control was a subject that most people found awkward.

"I'm on the pill," she said, laughing a little. "It's very responsible of you to make sure though. Good job." She reached up to pat him on the head like she had done multiple times in the past. It had always bothered him before, he said he didn't like being treated like a puppy, but this time he just smiled.

"Good. I am not good with children," he said. "I have to go back to work. Bye."

"Bye," she said, staring after him in surprise.

That one comment about not being good with children played through her mind for the rest of the afternoon. There were so many implications in those words, and she wasn't sure if he knew that or not, being unused to social norms. Those words, and the way he had said them, implied that if she were to accidentally become pregnant, he wouldn't leave her. His tone had also implied that he wanted children in the future, something she had never been sure she wanted. It also sounded as though he was regretful for not being good with children already.

She shook her head after catching herself thinking about it for the fifth time in the last hour, and decided to call it a day. Why was she thinking about this as though they were in a serious, long-term relationship?

She nearly dropped her backpack as the answer came to her. It was because Zack was a 'long-term' kind of person. She had realized it a long time ago, when they were just friends, that he treated the people around him as though they were his family. She had never seen him turn down someone when they asked a favor, even if it was work related, and he didn't like change, which was obvious from his personality.

Of course he was a long-term kind of person. Why had she thought that a short-term relationship with him was a good idea? She really should call the whole thing off.

That idea caused her to come to a stop in the middle of the hallway she had been walking in. Why did that idea hurt? They had been together for less than twenty four hours, but in that time she had grown used to him being nearby. Or maybe she had grown used to that before, when they had been friends. The days when they had lunch together outside had been her favorite days of the week, and she really enjoyed his personality, it was odd and refreshing. And she had always thought of him as attractive, she had even considered trying to date him when they had first become friends, but then she had gotten distracted with work and had never followed up on the idea.

Would she consider a long-term relation ship with him now? She shook her head at the though. She didn't need to think about this, it wasn't an option. She had made her views to him clear. Sex, and that was all. Eventually Zack would find some girl that would understand his way of doing things and they would fall madly in love with each other and live happily ever after with a bunch of kids.

"Hi, you look lost," a woman said, walking up to Erin as she entered the Medico-Legal Lab. Erin felt lost in this facility. Everything was so sterile and post modern and busy, though today it seemed to be mostly empty.

"Uh, yeah I was looking for Zack Addy," she said, glancing around the room.

"He's with Dr. Brennan… I'm not sure where they went but they aren't here," she said, smiling. Erin felt more comfortable around her, she was wearing slightly dressy clothing, but she didn't look like one of the always serious lab tech people. "Why are you looking for him? And how did you get in here anyway?"

"Oh, I work here," Erin said, knowing she could easily be mistaken as a normal person with the way she dressed, and the fact that her Jeffersonian badge was clipped to her belt and obscured by her jacket. "I'm Katherine James, I work in the Egyptology department."

"I'm Angela Montenegro," she said, shaking Erin's hand, and Erin smiled at her. She could see how this woman would confuse Zack with advice, she looked to be girly, and mostly normal.

"I gave Zack a ride to work this morning so I was just making sure he wouldn't need a ride home so I can head out," Erin said, and Angela's eyes widened a little.

"So you know where Zack was this morning?" Angela began excitedly, and Erin had the sudden feeling that she had made a mistake in mentioning that. "He lives on Hodgins' property but he said Zack wasn't home this morning."

"Oh, I didn't realize he had a roommate," Erin said, deliberately playing stupid. "I met Zack a couple years ago and discovered that his house is on the way to mine, so I give him rides sometimes when he stays late. I asked him to review my dissertation this morning because I know he's also working on one."

"That is much less fun than what I imagined," she said, almost pouting a little. Erin chuckled, glad she wasn't called out on her lie. It had sounded obvious to her own ears. "So you've been friends with Zack for years?"

"Yes, we met my second day here when I got turned around going to my department," Erin said, chuckling at the memory. "Zack was the first person I came across and he was very aggravated at having to show me where to go so I found him after work to apologize and we started talking. He sometimes comes to ask me to explain the things you say. Assuming you are the Angela he works with."

"That's me," she said, grinning. "We should have lunch together some time. We can talk about all the embarrassing things you know about Zack."

"Oh, I don't really know any," Erin said, feeling as though if she had to spend time with Angela, the woman would somehow magically learn all her secrets.

"Of course you do," Angela said, chuckling. "You just don't know that you do."

"I can see why Zack is confused by you," Erin said, smiling at the taller woman. "I never leave my department though so if you ever want to come by for lunch I will not say no."

"Perfect," she said, grinning, and Erin got the feeling that Angela was planning something.

"Can you please tell Zack that I went home early so I can't give him a ride home?" Erin asked.

"Sure," Angela said. "See you later Katherine."

"Bye," Erin mumbled, not bothering to correct the name.

She spent the rest of the afternoon getting her dissertation in order, then cleaning up from the day before; washing dishes, vacuuming, and putting her work things back into their proper places, though she was sure that within a couple days they would be all across the tables again.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

The next Monday, Erin was reassigned to her usual job when they didn't have things to catalog, which was pouring over copies of old writing and making translations. There were only a couple people in the world who were as adept with the ancient Egyptian language as she was, and all the others were in Egypt. Her abilities came from her interest in other languages as a child, and grew in middle school when she discovered hieroglyphs and began studying them in her free time, then moved on to the less formal ancient Egyptian writings of Hieratic, Coptic, and Demotic. In university, she had been the person able to decipher the language the most quickly, so that job was given to her in nearly every group assignment she worked on.

When the head of Egyptology had discovered that Erin actually enjoyed going over the old writings, she had permanently assigned the young grad student to going over the old copies. Over the past three years, Erin had memorized every variation of every glyph and what they meant when adjusted, written in different inks, turned, or were added to, and she was able to read through the writings almost as quickly as she could read literature written in any of her second languages, like Spanish, Latin, German, and, of course, Arabic, the main language of modern Egypt.

She wrote pages of notes on the copies to be looked over by Dr. Lawrence, then, if needed, sent back to Egypt to be verified as correct. Most of the things she translated were names and titles, serious family histories of people, but once in a great while, there were stories. Usually, stories were passed down through generations by mouth rather than written word, since only the very rich could afford and were allowed to educate their children, but once in a while someone would write them down. Most of them were children stories, probably for the rich children to learn to read from, and those were always interesting. Most of the Hieratic writings were very old, dating from what was officially called the Old Kingdom, roughly 2500 B.C. and those ones were always the hardest to translate, because the way the letters were formed changed slightly from person to person, and more from village to village, but those were always the most interesting stories as morals and social norms had been so different back then.

There were hundreds of thousands of copies of old writings to go through, and more documents were added to the translation list every time old rooms in castles were discovered, or old tombs unearthed. Many of them were similar in content, but it was impossible to be sure without actually translating them all since the figures for the same word or sound varied so greatly.

Some documents, Erin was able to analyze and feel satisfied with her translations in less than an hour, but some of them were difficult, smudged or bad quality photocopies, crumbling stone or faded ink. Those ones she could spend an entire day on.

Monday had been such a day. The document she was going over was older than most, judging by the carving style and letter formation, Erin placed its origin date between 2700 and 2800 B.C., one of the only Early Dynastic Period pieces she had worked on since joining the Jeffersonian. The only copies of the information she had to go off of were old photocopies, black and white ones. The letters had been carved very close together in Hieratic, not Hieroglyphs, which told her it was an informal writing, so not a family history or gravestone. They hadn't recorded stories back then, not with the limited number of people who were able to read or write, and the amount of time it took to carve out each symbol. The letters were very carefully formed though, and the writing spanned several stone tablets, also called Stelas, so whoever had written it must have thought it was very important.

Erin spent most of the day going over every inch of the photocopies under the magnifier, then copying down exact replicas of each shape, and the spacing between the letters, then jotting down her own thoughts about the glyphs before moving on to the next one.

"What are you working on?" Dr. Lawrence's voice drew Erin from her analysis.

"I'm not sure yet," Erin said, looking up. "I haven't started translation yet. This is the oldest piece I've every worked on though. I've dated it as 27-2800 B.C. but that's just a guess at this point."

"Well you should head home now, it'll still be here in the morning," Dr. Lawrence said. Erin glanced around in surprise. At some point it had gotten dark outside, though she hadn't noticed.

"Yes, of course," she said, separating her notes and her own copies of the tablets from the official ones, and shoving her things into her backpack. "I didn't notice it was so late."

"You never do Ms. James," Dr. Lawrence said, chuckling. "You are very dedicated to your work."

Erin tucked her things into her desk and began walking beside him out to the hallways.

"Thank you sir," Erin said, smiling.

"Which is why I've scheduled your dissertation presentation for two weeks from now, Wednesday," he said, and she froze in shock, falling a couple steps behind.

"Two weeks sir?" She asked, her voice raising a little.

"Don't try to tell me you aren't ready," he said, shaking his head as she caught up with him. "I read your subject proposal and you have obviously done large amounts of research. I wouldn't be surprised if you have the entire project finished already, and have had it finished for months."

"I…" She began, but she couldn't deny it. She had finished her dissertation research over a year ago and probably could have presented her work and graduated last year around this time, if she had wanted to. At the time though she hadn't wanted to leave the Jeffersonian yet. "Yes sir. Will you be on the panel of judges?"

"I will," he said, nodding. "And I look forward to hearing your presentation."

"Thank you sir," she said, continuing toward the parking lot as he split off toward the administrative building.

Two weeks to get her dissertation together… that would be very difficult.

She had been sort of avoiding Zack since her realization on Saturday, that he was a long term kind of guy. Not because of that fact alone though, it was because she had remembered how intense he had been during their one sexual encounter, and her mind kept bringing him up at the most random of moments.

It hadn't been difficult to avoid him though. From what she had gathered, their anthropology team had just solved the murder of an ambassadors son who had been found hanging from a tree at his private school, and they had immediately been assigned to another case, this one stemming from Washington State. Dr. Brennan had left to be on site, but she was going to start sending X-rays and samples to be identified, which, as her assistant, would be Zack's job. She had gathered all of this from a brief run in with Angela that morning.

* * *

Her avoidance lasted until Friday that week. To be fair, she had a very good excuse for not making time to go see Zack. He wasn't the only one who was busy with work. She had found her current project to be much harder to translate than usual. She had successfully copied down all the letters, but when she deciphered them, they didn't make sense together, and nearly every letter had odd irregularities that she had never seen before, and neither Dr. Lawrence, nor the other intern, Paulo, were able to explain. It was if the person who had done the writing had done so in their own personal language that only happened to resemble the ancient language of Egypt. The only thing that kept her convinced it was written in Hieratic was the name signed at the bottom of each tablet. She had tentatively deciphered it as Karanebti, which led her to name the project as the Karanebti Files. She had herd variations on the name when studying past monarchs and their households, but she didn't recall anyone with that exact name, so she had been pouring over all ancient Egyptian people mentioned in anything. If she could verify that the name was correct, maybe she would be able to use it to translate the other letters.

"Erin."

Or maybe she was looking at the name incorrectly. She had disregarded a couple oddities in the letters, but they were the same on every tablet, more or less. Maybe they weren't meant to be a name, but those symbols together couldn't be anything else.

"Erin."

Maybe if she could find out who the person mentioned was and what their occupation had been, she would be able to guess at what content might be written here. They would have had to have access to money, the stones looked like they were made of marble, which was why most of the letters had been preserved so nicely.

"Erin?"

She jumped as strong hands touched her shoulders, but then relaxed a little as they began to massage her sore muscles. She leaned back a little, recognizing the voice as Zack's, now that she was paying attention. Then she realized what he was doing and jumped to her feet, looking around. It was dark outside, and the department was empty, though she hadn't heard the others leave.

"Zack?" She asked, turning to face him. "What are you doing here? And where did you learn that?" She gestured to her shoulders. It was something that a lot of people did, she knew, but Zack was not a lot of people. He smiled in satisfaction.

"I've been observing some of the people at the lab," he said. "And I came to see if you would be able to take me home today. Hodgins left already."

"Sure," she said, yawning, then beginning to collect her paperwork. "What do you do on days that Hodgins and I am both gone?"

"I take a cab," he said. "But I prefer not to. They always smell like feet." She chuckled, hoisting her backpack over her shoulder and heading to the door.

"How is your case in Washington going?" She asked as she used her key to look the doors behind her.

"How did you hear about that?" He asked, walking beside her down the hallway. "Cases are supposed to stay in the lab."

"Angela told me," she said. "She didn't give me any details, she just said that you would be busy for a while because as Dr. Brennan's assistant it was your obligation to identify the things she sent to you."

"Oh," he said, looking a little relieved for some reason.

"What's wrong?" Erin asked, walking out into the slightly cool night air. Summer was definitely over now, she wouldn't be surprised if the leaves started changing colors soon.

"Well I was under the impression that after a sexual encounter, if your partner doesn't speak to you for a week it is because they are avoiding you for some reason," he said, and she immediately felt bad. She was no better than Naomi, sleeping with Zack and then avoiding him. "But now I see you were just giving me time to work because you knew I was busy." She almost let him believe that. It would have been so easy to just not tell him. But she already felt terrible.

"To be honest Zack," she said, climbing into her car. "I was avoiding you, a little."

"Oh," he said, and this time he sounded a little upset. "Did I… do something wrong?" He sounded like a hurt puppy.

"No, not at all," she said, shaking her head. "It's my fault, really. It's been a long time since I've had a… sexual partner and I was just adjusting to the change, I guess."

"I see," he said, sounding like his normal self again. "Have you adjusted?"

"Yes," she said, smiling in amusement.

"Then in that case, would you like to stay at my apartment tonight?" He asked, surprising her with the offer. "I assume that is fair since last time we stayed at your apartment."

"Is this going to be a weekly thing then?" She asked, trying to buy time to come up with an excuse to distance herself without hurting his feelings. Her emotions when thinking about Zack had been confusing her. She wasn't sure what they meant.

"I did some internet research like you told me to, and there were multiple results about 'friends with benefits' and most of them said that sexual encounters happen once a week," he said, and she chuckled.

"That isn't what I told you to research," she said, laughing.

"I did a lot of other research too," he explained. "Social conventions, regularly used terms, usual event timelines, sexual positions, how to conduct a proper date, conversation topics that are acceptable to most people, and body language."

"Wow, okay," she said. "You did all that while still working on the case?"

"Most of this case has been waiting for the things Dr. Brennan ships to us," he explained. "Oh, that reminds me. Over the last week, we have gotten all our shipments from the delivery girl, and Hodgins and I have had a competition to see who she likes more, because she is very beautiful. Today we made her close between us, but she picked Angela. Hodgins said that was hot, but I don't understand the situation and he refused to explain it to me."

Erin ignored the very small part of her that was upset by the fact that Zack had said the woman was beautiful. She had no right to be jealous, she had been the one to tell him that this wasn't a real relationship. She forced herself to chuckle.

"Some guys think that its hot when two attractive women engage in sexual acts together," she explained. "I think it has something to do with the male desire to have multiple sexual partners at one time."

"Oh, that makes sense then," Zack said, nodding. Erin sighed, gripping the wheel as she turned up the long driveway to Zack's place. She had never been there in the daytime, so she wasn't sure how much further the driveway went, just that it was well cared for, paved over with no potholes or cracks, and the trees and plants alongside the driveway were very well cared for. She had to decided whether she could continue this fake relationship, or if she should break it off now.

Well, she wouldn't think about it tonight, she could always decide tomorrow.

"Where can I park my car?" She asked, not wanting it to be in the way of the garage doors.

"I think around the corner should be okay," Zack said, pointing. "I've never had a car here overnight before so I'm not sure."

"You've never had a girl over for the night?" She asked, smirking as she climbed out of the car and followed him to the stairs.

"No," he said, unlocking the door to reveal a tall case of stairs. "Naomi and I only slept together one time at her place and before that I haven't had a partner since my second year of college."

"Really?" She asked, a little surprised. "Only two other girls?"

"Yes," he said. "Is that bad?"

"No," she said, shaking her head. "I just would have guessed more."

"Is that a bad thing?" He asked again, frowning.

"Not at all," she said, chuckling as they made it to the top of the stairs. The apartment was much larger than she had thought it would be. The garage must have been huge. There were at least three bedrooms that she could see, and the rooms were all very good sized, the living room especially. The whole place was… not messy, but for some reason she had expected Zack to be as OCD clean as he was at work.

"I don't know how to cook very many things, so if you would like food we will have to order out," he said, frowning in thought.

"I'm not very hungry," she said, chuckling. "But thanks."

He had been standing slightly awkwardly till this point, obviously not sure how to proceed with her, so she made the first move and stepped forward. His hands automatically came up to rest on her hips, and she smiled. He was more comfortable with touching her today, at least, a little more comfortable.

"Are you stressed today?" He asked as she pulled away from a short kiss.

"Why?" She asked.

"Because you said that sex is a way for you to release stress, and you are much more eager today than last time," he said, and she chuckled.

"I am a little stressed," she said, nodding. "I've been stuck on this project at work, and my dissertation presentation is on Wednesday."

"Are you nervous?" He asked. She shrugged.

"Not really, I've been done with it for almost a year now and I think I will do well," she said, leaning into him a little more.

"I'm nervous about mine and it won't be until next year," he admitted, and she leaned back a little to look up at him.

"You will do fine, Zack," she said, smiling.

"How do you know? I haven't told you what it's about," he said.

"You are the smartest person I know," she said as though that settled it. "There is no way you won't do well."

He leaned down to kiss her as a response, and she responded eagerly. It was nice having someone who cared about her, or at least, appeared to care about her.

"Which way is the bedroom?" She asked, breaking the kiss and breathing a little hard.

"Second door on the right," he said, and she was glad to see that he was also breathless, and obviously excited. She grinned.

* * *

Erin woke up the next day and was instantly confused at the lack of sunlight. She was so used to waking up to the sun warming her face, but now the sun was casting a bright square over the far wall at an angle completely incongruent with where her window was located. She blinked against the light and slowly became aware of a light brushing movement on her ribs.

It was then that she remembered where she was, and who she was with. Her back was pressed against Zack's chest, his arm wrapped around her abdomen, his hand coming to rest on her lower ribs. His fingers were tracing the shape of the bones that stood out against her skin, letting her know he was already awake. His lips pressed against the back of her neck, and she shivered a little as a bolt of desire raced down her spine at the gentile touches.

When he realized she was awake, his motions stopped and she turned her head to face him. He kissed her once, chastely.

"Good morning," he said, and she turned around in his arms completely to curl up against his chest, burying her face in his shoulder. She felt more than heard him chuckle, but he made no movements to get out of bed. His arm was still wrapped around her waist, his hand tracing up and down her spine lightly.

"Where did you learn to be so nice in the morning?" Erin asked, her voice muffled by his shoulder.

"The internet, yesterday," he said, his tone conveying that he wasn't sure if the internet had been correct or not. "I read that small sensual acts sometimes lead to sexual acts."

"You want to have sex right now?" She asked, pulling her face away from him to raise an eyebrow in amusement.

"As I have told you before, I am a male and you are a beautiful, willing female, so there is not a time that I don't want to have sex with you," he said as though that should be obvious. She smiled.

"I like it when you call me beautiful," she said. "Did the internet teach you that too?"

"No," he said, smiling. "I learned that on my own." His hands were still gently coasting over her skin, making her shiver again and draw closer to him.

As neither of them had bothered putting clothes on the night before, this had a very obvious affect on him, and she grinned, moving to wrap one of her legs over his waist.

* * *

"Zack," Erin began, then hesitated. They were currently both sitting at his dining table eating cereal. She was dressed in her clothes from the day before, sort of. She had been unable to locate her shirt among the blankets and pillows, so she had borrowed one of his.

"Yes?" He asked when she didn't continue. She had meant to bring up the growing feelings toward him that she had been experiencing recently, but she lost her nerve.

"Could you do me a favor?" She said instead. "Could you read through my dissertation and tell me what you think?"

"I know very little about archeology or Egypt," he said, frowning in thought. "But I can look through it if you want me to. I won't be able to give any viable opinions."

"That's okay," she said. "I just want to make sure there aren't any obvious mistakes in it."

"Sure, do you have it with you?" He asked, and she smiled at him and went to get her backpack from where she had left it by the door.

She had just barely bent down to get it when the front door burst open.

"Erin?" She heard Zack call from the other room, but she didn't reply. In the doorway was a sort of short guy with red curly hair. Erin recognized him as someone that Zack worked with, probably Hodgins, if she were guessing correctly.

"Uh, Zack, I think you have a visitor," Erin said when the man just stood there with his mouth open, staring at her in shock. Zack came to the door, frowning.

"Hodgins, why are you here?" He asked, getting the mans attention at last.

"Uh," he said at first, still obviously shocked by Erin's presence there, which was when she realized that she was wearing one of Zack's shirts that was mostly unbuttoned, exposing the middle of her bra and part of her stomach. She quickly buttoned it all the way up. "I didn't mean to interrupt anything," his tone was a joking suggestive one now, and Erin was surprised to see Zack blushing a little. "But we were supposed to be at the lab, about now."

"Shoot," Zack said, looking at his watch, then at Erin, then back to Hodgins. "I need a minute."

"Take your time," Hodgins said in an amused tone as Zack disappeared into his bedroom. "So… I'm Jack Hodgins."

"Erin," Erin said, shaking his offered hand. She pulled her dissertation binder from her backpack, and went to leave it on the dining table. Hodgins followed her through the apartment, obviously wanting the full story of why she was there. She put their used cereal bowls into the sink since their breakfast was obviously over now, and then she went back to the door to put her shoes on, purposefully avoiding the questioning look Hodgins was casting her way.

"So is that your car out front?" He asked, and she glanced up, wondering if he was just making conversation or if she had parked in a bad spot.

"Yeah," she said. "Sorry, I wasn't sure where to park to be out of the way of the garage doors."

"No, thats fine, park wherever," he said, and she sighed.

"I suppose you are wondering why I'm here," she said, wanting to get that out of the way. Zack had obviously been embarrassed earlier and she didn't want Hodgins to make fun of him or anything.

"No I think I have that part figured out," he said, chuckling a little.

"Erin is here because her apartment building had a water leak and she has no other friends in the area," Zack said, coming to her rescue. She was grateful. Usually she was good at lying, but she hadn't wanted to do something that would hurt Zack, and she wasn't sure if lying to his friends would fall into that category.

"Zack offered to let me stay here until it's fixed," she said, nodding along with Zack's story. She hoped Hodgins wouldn't question her choice in clothing too closely.

"Uh huh," he said, nodding, and she knew he was probably going to bother Zack about it all day at work. "If you say so. Come on Zack, lets go." He turned and disappeared down the stairs.

"Sorry about him," Zack said after they heard the downstairs door close. "I forgot that we were supposed to go to the lab today."

"It's fine," Erin said. "And if you want to, you can tell him about us hooking up, I know he's going to ask you about it later. Just, no details, if you don't mind."

"I never understood the phrase hooking up," Zack said as they walked down the stairs together.

"It's just one of those things that everyone says," she said, smiling a little. "I'll see you later." She said as they split ways outside.

"Bye Erin," he said, giving her a smile, then heading towards Hodgins' car. She smiled and shook her head, walking to her own car.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

Erin spent the morning going over more of her translations. She was having no luck in translating individual symbols, or words, so she came at the project a new way, separating every letter that looked similar enough to have the same meaning, and writing them all together, with notes of what page they were from. She already knew what the most commonly used symbols were, so maybe if she could figure out which ones this person used the most, she could start figuring out their code.

She had copies of every original marble tablet, pages of her notes, large art quality papers with her renderings of each symbol, all taped up to her living room walls, spread across the table, covering the kitchen counters, and practically every other flat surface in the apartment by the time someone knocked on her door in the early afternoon.

She had been wearing shorts and a tank top, despite the cool autumn air outside, the amount of running around she had been doing had made her warm, but she figured that since the only people who visited her here besides her mother and Zack were salespeople, it didn't matter how she answered the door.

"Hello mom," Erin said, pulling the door open for the woman without a fight since she would come in whether Erin invited her in or not.

"Did a tornado go through here or something?" Her mother asked, looking disdainfully around the apartment.

"I'm working on a big project," Erin said shrugging, determined not to let her mothers comments get to her today. She had gotten a good start to the weekend, and she thought she might be close in figuring out who the person that carved the tablets had been.

"When are you not?" Her mother asked, then turned to look at Erin. "Why aren't you ready?"

"Ready for what?" Erin asked, confused now.

"I told you we would be having dinner this week. Did you forget already?" She asked, frowning.

"I didn't realize you had picked a day," Erin said, thinking back over the week. Her mother definitely hadn't mentioned anything about dinner being Saturday. "I just need a couple minutes to get dressed."

"I'll wait out in the car," her mother said, frowning at the papers spread over the floor that kept her from entering the apartment further than the hallway. Erin grinned to herself as she jumped over one of the photocopies and rushed to her bedroom to put on clothes appropriate for dinner. Her mother had been wearing her usual slightly fancy clothing, so Erin decided to go with her usual clothes too, jeans and a t-shirt.

"You could have dressed nicer," was the first thing her mother said when Erin got to the car.

"Are we going somewhere fancy?" Erin asked, knowing that if they were her mother would have worn her super fancy things.

"How you present yourself to the outside world should not be influenced by your location," the woman said, which Erin took as a definitive no. Erin resisted the urge to make a sarcastic comment, instead turning to look out the window. The two of them sat in silence until Erin's phone rang out loudly. She took the excuse to not start a conversation again and pulled it out of her pocket quickly, answering it without looking gat the caller ID.

"James," she said in way of greeting.

"Erin?"

"Oh, hey Zack," she said, sighing a little. "What's up?"

"I lost a bet and Hodgins is making me invite you to his house for dinner tonight," he said. Erin chuckled. She could just imagine how much the red headed man had been bothering Zack about her, especially is Zack had told him they had slept together.

"What did you tell him about earlier?" She asked, wording her question carefully so her mother would have no idea what she was talking about.

"That we are friends with benefits," Zack said. "He seemed surprised that I knew that phrase and now he is insisting on talking to you."

"Tell him I can't tonight," Erin said. "I'm having dinner with my mother."

"Oh," Zack said. "I thought you didn't get along with her."

"I don't," Erin said, sighing. "I'm making an effort though. I have to go. I'll see you at work on Monday."

"Okay," Zack said, then hung up without saying anything else. Erin put her phone back as they pulled up to the restaurant. It was an Italian place, not fancy by any means.

"With the amount of time you put into that museum, it's no surprise you haven't met a nice boy to settle down with yet," he mother said, glancing at Erin from the corner of her eye.

"If it's not a surprise then why do you keep bringing it up?" Erin asked, not able to resist just one snarky reply.

"Because I want whats best for you!" Her mother said as they walked into the restaurant. It wasn't the type of place where one made reservations, so they didn't need to wait to be seated. "I don't want you to be alone forever."

"There's more in life than getting married mom," Erin said, sighing as they sat. "Liz is getting married so you already have one child to prove how good your parenting skills have been. Why can't I just do what I want to do?"

"Because there is no value in digging up old rocks," she said, looking over the menu.

"I like old rocks," Erin said, frowning into the menu. She had meant to avoid this argument tonight.

"Nothing useful has ever come from those things you spend so much time staring at," her mother said, setting down the menu.

"All our modern medicine is based on Edwin Smith's notes from the 16th century BC," Erin said automatically. "Which was discovered in Egypt, written on papyrus, with the exact same symbols I've been deciphering all week…" Erin trailed off, coming to a sudden realization. She was so busy thinking that she didn't even hear her mothers response, nor the waitress asking for their orders, until her mother nudged her shoulder.

"I'll have the marinara pasta," Erin said absently. "Can I borrow your pen for a second, please?"

The waitress handed it over and Erin immediately unfolded her napkin and began writing her thoughts down so she would forget them. Most of what she wrote was in Hieratic, the names of different documents. It hadn't been until she had put both her current working, and the old medical texts in the same thought that she had realized why some of the symbols on her current work looked familiar. They were medical terms. Very uncommonly used in most old carvings and writings because the symbols were difficult to shape.

"Thank you," Erin said to the waitress, giving her pen back.

"That was rude," Erin's mother said, sitting straight in her chair. Erin was eager to get home now, to see if her new idea would help.

"Yeah, I'm a rude person," she said without thought.

If she was correct and these were medical texts… they would be the earliest ones discovered so far. She would have to make a requisition for the original tablets. That would be difficult to do without giving a reason, which she really wanted to keep to herself for now. If she told the Egyptian museum what she hoped to find with those tablets, they would never allow her to have them, they would want to keep that discovery within their own people, as they commonly did with important things. She might have some luck though, since the old tablet she needed had been discovered by American's on a privately funded dig, and they hadn't been found in a Pharaohs tomb, but rather an old palace.

Erin was drawn out of her thoughts when the waitress brought their food back. Her mother had been speaking while she thought, though Erin hadn't heard her. When the waitress left, her mother picked back up, talking about other possible careers for Erin that would be more worthwhile, and how it wasn't too late for Erin to find a new profession because at 24, she was still sort of young.

"We all thought that since you graduated high school so early you would be someone important by now, but you had to choose a useless field to study."

Erin ate her pasta quickly, not listening to her mother. If the tablets were in fact from the Early Dynastic Period, as she had guessed before, they would be one of the biggest discoveries in Egyptian history in the last hundred years.

"I understand that you're going through some sort of late teenage rebellion stage or something, but when is the last time you even talked to your father?"

But she didn't want to get ahead of herself with them. They could be nothing. She hadn't found the name Karanebti in any previously documented texts. Hopefully one of the other names throughout the texts could validate time period and maybe even family history.

"Erin, are you even listening to me?" Erin sighed.

"Yes mother," she said, setting her fork down with her meal half eaten.

"I asked when the last time you talked to your sister was?" Her mother asked, her eyes narrowing a little.

"She called me the morning after you stopped by to tell me about the engagement," Erin said. She didn't mention that her sister had said she was going to call Erin the night before, but their mother had rambled on for so long that she'd had to go to work before she had time to call. She also didn't mention that Liz had been a little upset that their mother still called Michael by the incorrect name even though they had been dating for two years. Erin had done her best to make her sister feel better, making the joke that their mother was just getting old and probably losing her memory.

"Good," her mother said, nodding. "Maybe when you see how happy she is with her life you will start taking more of my advice." Erin almost snorted at that. Liz hadn't taken her mothers advice at all either. She had joined the military half because she thought it would be a good idea, and half to get away from her mother.

"I doubt that going to her wedding is going to make me want to rush out and get married," Erin said, pushing her food around her plate. She had eaten more than enough, and now she was just waiting for her mother to be done so she could go home.

"I don't understand you," her mother said, setting her fork down with a loud clunk. Erin looked up, surprised. Usually her comments were ignored by her mother, she had very rarely gotten upset over them. "Is it too much to ask for you to enjoy your life like your father and I have? Like your sister is doing?"

"Mom, I do enjoy my life," Erin said, frowning. "I just don't enjoy the same things you do."

"We worked so hard to get ahead in life and to give you a good education, and you repay us by digging up rocks and looking at stupid little carvings," her mother said, returning to her usual habit of ignoring Erin's comments.

"I've payed for my own education for the last four years. If you want me to repay you for the first two years, I will, if only so you stop trying to say I owe you," Erin said, her voice growing cold. "I don't owe you anything. All you do is make my life miserable. I'm sorry that I didn't let you control my life and that I don't see the value in settling down and having kids right now, but I am happy with my work and my life and I'm not going to change any of that because you tell me to. Thanks for having dinner with me," Erin said, getting to her feet an leaving a twenty dollar bill on the table. "Please don't come around my apartment anymore, unless it's to apologize for making me feel worthless my entire life. Goodbye Jackie."

Calling her Jackie instead of mom was Erin's way of telling her that she didn't want to be considered family anymore. Her mother must have gotten the hint because she didn't follow Erin out of the restaurant. The restaurant they were at was only about two miles away from her apartment, which would have been fine, but it was starting to drizzle. The rain also would have been fine, but she had the napkin from the restaurant tucked into her pocket,

Over the past few years she had thought of hundreds of ways to tell her mother to shut up and leave her alone, most of them were much meaner than the speech she had just given.

It wasn't that Erin hated her mother, not at all, she just didn't want to listen to someone telling her she wasn't good enough or smart enough anymore. Some of what had made her speak out tonight was probably the stress of having her dissertation in only a few days, and some was excitement to leave and get home to work on her projects, but most of it was pent up frustration from years of her mothers nit picking.

Erin, now glad she had happened to accidentally grab her jacket with a hood, zipped the coat up, pulled the hood over her hair, and started walking in the direction of her apartment.

She had made it about halfway when the rain really started coming down, but she managed to stay mostly dry by sticking to the very edges of the buildings she was walking past. When she made it back to her apartment, she took off her shoes and coat in the hallway so she wouldn't track in mud, then she shed the rest of her wet clothing just inside the door, hanging it over her coat hangers so it didn't drip on the papers she had left on the floor.

Erin didn't bother putting dry clothes on. It was, as always, overly warm in her apartment, and she was more eager to find out if her ideas at the restaurant were good ones or not.

By the time the sun went down Erin's living room looked like someone had attempted to cover the entire floor with open books, papers, and random drawings. At some point she had gotten a little chilly and gone to put on a pair of sweats, but she had ended up rolling the legs of the pants up so that when she stepped over the books on the floor, the fabric wouldn't catch on any of the pages and lose her place.

The knock on her door hardly distracted her at all from her current book. The book contained pictures and sketches of different variations of the Hieratic language in its earliest forms, and though she had read it a hundred times before, she still found something new every time.

"It's open," she called, knowing that it was probably Zack since, even though he didn't drive, he pretty much the only person she talked to on a regular basis, besides her mother, and Jackie had been mad enough to last for at least a couple days. Hopefully a lot longer.

Erin was sitting cross legged on the top of her coffee table, books spread around her on the table and the floor, and various images propped up on the couch.

"Erin?" Yes, that voice was definitely Zack.

"I'm in the living room," she called back, not wanting to get up.

"What on earth have you been doing?" Zack asked, carefully making his way across the floor.

"Working," Erin said, shrugging as she set her book aside. "What are you doing here? How did you even get here?"

"I took a cab," Zack said, his hands tucked into his pockets as he stood. "You weren't answering your phone."

"Oh, yeah it's in my coat pocket, I forgot to grab it," she said, shrugging. "Me not answering my phone is cause for you to come over here?"

"Well, you said you had dinner with your mom, and I know that she upsets you, so I thought I would come and…" he trailed off shrugging.

"Cheer me up?" Erin suggested, smiling a little. "That's very thoughtful of you. I didn't know you could be thoughtful."

"I find that it upsets me to know that you are upset," he said, frowning. "I suppose that is because you are my friend." She smiled at his reasoning. It was nice to know that someone didn't want her to be upset. She had come to stand in front of him while he talked.

"So you aren't here because you thought that I might be in an emotional state which would then lead me to have sex with you?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No," he siad, frowning. "Is that something that I should have thought of?"

"No, you are too nice to take advantage of people like that," Erin said, smiling. "I'm glad you came over though. It's nice to have company sometimes. Are you staying the night?"

"I can if you want me to," he said. "I brought your dissertation back. It's very interesting." He reached into a messenger bag he wore over his shoulder and pulled out the binder.

"Good," she said, accepting it. "Thank you."

"What are you working on?" Zack asked, looking at the amount of books and papers she had piled around the room.

"I'm trying to decipher some old carvings, and it's a little more difficult than I am used to, but I think it's going to be a pretty important find, overall," she said, grinning. "If I'm right, this is one of the oldest documentations of medical procedures and anatomy. I haven't been able to translate it yet though, so I'm not sure. I think I finally have a place to start though. I thought of it at dinner."

"Is it polite to ask you about dinner or polite to ignore the subject?" Zack asked, frowning as he tried to remember what social protocol to follow. Erin gave him a thin smile.

"Dinner was not pleasant. I left early and walked home," she said, her voice a little angry. She was surprised when Zack hugged her instead of replying. She relaxed into him and hugged him back, smiling.

"Angela says that the proper way to comfort someone who is upset is with a hug," Zack explain, pulling back from her.

"Angela is very smart," Erin said, covering a yawn.

"It is very late, would you like to go to sleep?" Zack asked, and Erin glanced at the clock, frowning. It was almost midnight.

"When we first slept together you said you didn't like sleeping beside someone else," Erin pointed out, making her way through the books to the hallway.

"I had never done so before so that was an assumption," Zack said, following behind her. "Now that I have more experience with the situation I find myself enjoying sleeping beside you. It is pleasant to share your company."

Erin didn't reply to that because she wasn't sure what to say, so she just followed him to the bedroom with a soft smile.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

"Zack!" Erin's yell across the slightly crowded hallway in the Jeffersonian made more than one head turn her way, but she ignored them and kept up her fast pace. Zack, who had been walking towards the Anthropology department, turned toward her, then, seeing who had called him, stopped to wait for her to catch up to him. He raised an eyebrow at her when he saw her rather professional looking business suit and styled hair.

"Hello Erin," he said when she was within easy earshot. He looked her over again as she stopped in front of him, grinning. "I take it your dissertation went well."

"Very well," she said, slightly out of breath from her near run down the hallway. "I'm officially Dr. James now."

"Congratulations, Dr. James," Zack said, smiling in response to her grin widening again.

"They said that my paper was 'Very well thought out and detailed', and they called my research 'brilliant'," she said, walking with him as he began to move toward his department again.

"I agree with their assessment," Zack said, nodding. His face had returned to the slightly downcast, slightly disturbed expression he had been wearing when she had very briefly seen him that morning.

"Will you tell me what's wrong now?" She asked, keeping her voice low as she walked beside him. She had asked that morning, but Zack had told her he didn't want to give her something bad to think about right before her dissertation review.

"Nothing unusual," he said, his voice also low as the passed a couple people in the hall. "The case we are currently working on… is difficult."

"Well I'm sure you will figure it out," Erin said, frowning a little. She knew he wasn't supposed to talk about cases that weren't closed yet to anyone outside his department. "You are the most intelligent person I know."

"It's not that kind of difficult," Zack said, shaking his head as they came to a stop beside the Forensic's Lab doors. "It is… harder for me to compartmentalize this case than it usually is for me to do."

"I don't understand," Erin said, tilting her head to one side.

"The victim," Zack swallowed before continuing, something Erin had never seen him do before. "He was a child. His skeleton is so small."

"Oh," Erin said, realizing how difficult that would be, even for someone who usually wasn't over emotional. She didn't count herself as over emotional very often, but when she had been just into grad school she had been assigned to work with a group analyzing some unimportant mummies to study the procedures used, and she had cried for a very long time when she got home after seeing the multiple child sized coffins and mummies. "I'm sorry." She rested a hand on his arm and stepped fractionally closer than she usually would while they were at work.

"You have no reason to apologize," Zack said, shaking his head a little. "The person who killed him should be the one apologizing."

"I know," Erin said, rubbing his arm a little. "It's just something people say to comfort other people. It's like saying that I'm sorry you aren't happy."

"Oh," Zack said, then nodded. "Well then thank you. I really should get back to work."

"Okay," Erin said, stepping back again and letting her arm drop. Both of them had agreed that, while at work, they would only be professional, colleagues, no affection of any kind. "Will you need a ride home tonight? I usually leave early on Wednesdays but since I missed a whole morning of work, I'll be here for a while."

"We will probably be working on this case until very late so Hodgins can take me home," Zack said. "Thank you for offering."

"Anytime Zack," Erin said, then watched as he turned to disappear into the lab that was swarming with people dressed in blue lab coats.

She sighed and turned to head back to her own department. She had only really been involved with Zack for a couple weeks, but she was starting to realize that he was much different than he seemed at first glance. Just because he didn't display his emotions or react to things the way most people would, didn't mean that he didn't feel the same things as other people. When she had first met Zack, Erin had thought that his surplus of intelligence had separated him from other kids when he was younger, which led to him being emotionally stunted, and he was in a way, but he was also very good at hiding the feelings he did have. Maybe with more time, Erin would be able to figure out how to tell what he was feeling. Since their relationship at the moment was purely sexual, for the most part, she was already able to tell when he was turned on by something. The minute facial expressions, tiny changes in behavior and actions, she had always been good at reading people, but Zack was difficult for her to get a handle on.

"Ms. James," Erin turned to Dr. Lawrence as soon as she entered the Egyptology department. He had a slightly worried look on his face for some reason.

"Yes Dr. Lawrence?" She asked, frowning a little.

"There is someone here to speak to you," he said, gesturing back towards his office. "She says she was sent from the Egyptian ambassador himself."

"Oh," Erin said, smoothing her hands over her clothing, glad she hadn't changed into her usual clothing yet. "Did she say what she wants?"

"No," he said, frowning. "She just asked to speak to you privately."

"Is it alright if I talk to her in your office? There isn't really much privacy anywhere else in here," Erin asked, gesturing to the open work tables in front of her.

"Of course," he said, nodding. "She's already waiting."

"Thank you," Erin said, forcing her face to relax into a smile as she approached the office. She closed the door behind her and took a seat in front of the desk, since sitting behind it would be weird to her. The woman in the other chair was middle aged, black hair, wide forehead, dark eyes, very strong Egyptian genetics. She looked strict, her clothes were all very expensive and professional.

"Hi," Erin said, smiling in an attempt to sooth the harsh expression on the other woman's face. "I'm Dr. James." She held her had out to shake. The other woman gripped it tightly for a moment, then dropped it. She smiled, an her face immediately softened.

"My name is Nenet Shoukry," she said, then smiled again as Erin's eyes widened in recognition. "I see you have heard of my family. My father is Sameh Shoukry, the current ambassador from Egypt."

"It's… very nice to meet you, Ms. Shoukry," Erin said, then she stood from her seat, looking around them. "Did you want something to drink? Or eat? I can go get something for you-"

"No, no," she said, laughing. "I came to speak to you about your paper."

"My… paper?" Erin asked, still a little dazed as she sat back down. "You mean my dissertation?"

"Yes," Nenet said, nodding. "It was a very comprehensive study on Theoretical Methods of Underground Tomb Location Using Sonic Imaging, correct?"

"Yes," Erin said, sitting a little straighter in her seat. This woman was practically royalty, or as close as Erin would ever meet to the Republic of Egypt officials. "You've read it? It wasn't published. In fact, I just completed it a few days ago."

"Yes well I take a strong interest in the parts of my home country that are researched here at this museum," she said, and Erin suddenly frowned.

"Was my paper inaccurate?" She asked. "I did extensive research on the subjects, but I will admit that I have only spent an accumulated time of eight months in Egypt."

"No, it wasn't inaccurate," she said. "I came to ask your permission to send your research to my cousin, Asim, who is the head of the Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza. I think that he may be interested in some of your theories."

"Oh," Erin said, her face blank. "That would be an honor," she said slowly, "and I don't mean to be rude at all but… are you sure? The paper had only just been approved by the Jeffersonian and it hasn't been reviewed by any scholars, or published."

"You would receive full credit for any ideas he may want to use, if that is what you are worried about," Nenet said, frowning a little.

"No that's not… I just, well usually things like that are peer reviewed and restudied to make sure they are accurate results," Erin said, shaking her head.

"Yes, but that process can take a lot of time, and by then someone else may have published something similar on the topic, or someone else may approach you to sell the rights to the ideas, I wanted to be the first," she said.

"Well, I definitely can't say no," Erin said, smiling. "Do I need to fill out paperwork to release the paper to you? Technically it's property of the Jeffersonian since I studied it here."

"I'll have my lawyer contact you about it," Nenet said. "Thank you very much. In return, my brother agrees to approve your recent requisition of ancient engravings from his museum."

"Oh," Erin said. "Well that's… fantastic. I've been completely consumed by those marble tablets for the last week."

"I don't understand the fascination with ancient artifacts," Nenet said, getting to her feet with a smile. "I'm more interested in the living."

"Many people are," Erin said, laughing. "I'll walk you out, if you'd like. It's easy to get lost in this building."

"I noticed that coming in," she replied, nodding her head. "I have two personal body guards waiting in the hallway, and I'm sure they would appreciate not having to walk around in circles."

Erin smiled and walked with her out of the department. They chatted about how Nenet liked living in D.C. as opposed to Cairo, where she was from, and Erin made sure to file away every fact Nenet gave her about Egypt. The two times Erin had been there previously were on archeological digs, and she hadn't been anywhere near the big cities.

"So, who was she?" Dr. Lawrence asked as Erin came back to the department.

"Nenet Shoukry, daughter of the ambassador," Erin said, grinning with excitement. "She wanted to talk about my dissertation paper."

"Congratulations Dr. James," Dr. Lawrence said, looking a little stunned. "That is a very powerful person to have read your work. This bodes well for future publications."

"Thanks," Erin said. "She also said my requisition for the original tablets I've been working on was approved, so you should expect that shipment."

"I will file it with the authentication department," he said, nodding, then walked away.

Erin spent the rest of the afternoon, and much of the evening feeling as though she was floating on air while she worked on her deciphering. She had been documenting each word that looked like it could be a name to cross reference it with already known names so that she could find a key to the rest of the words. So far she had four potential names, maybe five, but the usual grammar marks were very faded on her photocopies.

She gave up and went home around eight, and she deflated a little on the drive, and even more as she walked into her apartment. She was beginning to dislike the nights she spent here alone. The place just seemed… empty, even with the multitude of recent additions to the books and papers that were still scattered around the living room and kitchen.

* * *

The marble tablets arrived at the museum on Friday afternoon, and, with the exception of Friday night with Zack, Erin spent the entire weekend at the Jeffersonian going over every inch of them with a magnifying glass and copying down the inconsistencies she found between them and the pictures she had been working off of before, then she immersed herself into translations again for the next two weeks, putting everything else aside, including Zack. She felt a little bad since they had agreed that they would meet every week, but she knew he understood what it was like to have something important to work on, and besides, he and the entire legal lab were completely focused on their current case about the dead child. As far as she had heard there hadn't been any breakthroughs in that case yet. It must have been frustrating for them.

Erin, on the other hand, came by her big breakthrough after two weeks. She had finally figured out the connection between the list of names mentioned in the tablets, and though the name Karanebti was not specifically mentioned in any official records, the name Karan had been a possible translation of the name of the sister of the Pharaoh around 2740 B. C. and the add on of -ebti to that name could be some sort of a pen name.

It made sense to her, after many weeks of frustrated scribbling. The few words she had been able to translate using the names as a key had strengthened her belief that these were medical texts. If they had indeed been written by Karan, who was not only a woman, but the sister of a Pharaoh, she would have had to use a pen name, or a disguise. Women were not allowed to work in that era, and they were very rarely allowed to learn to read and write. If it was, in fact, a woman who wrote these tablets, she would have had to been very high up in the monarchy, such as a Pharaohs sister. She also would have had to have disguised her texts so that no one who found them would be able to connect them to her. There had to be a key somewhere though. She hadn't hidden the tablets, so she had obviously meant for someone to find them after her death.

If the woman had been close to the family physician, or to anyone else in the palace, she would have had only a spoken key. But, if Erin was lucky, the woman hadn't trusted anyone with the information while she was alive, which would result in a written key, probably carved somewhere that the woman spent a lot of time.

This conclusion put most of Erin's work at a standstill as she waited for another of her requisitions to go through. This one wasn't for any physical material, but rather it asked for pictures of the palace the diggers had found. It was standard procedure on any dig to photograph the area before they tried to extract anything, just in case there were booby traps or the object were in bad quality.

She wasn't sure how long it would take to get copies of the photographs since she had to get them from the privately funded group who had actually gone on the dig, rather than a museum or government official. She had provided a brief summery of her recent work, but she made it sound as though she was seeking knowledge rather than trying to decipher something she thought might be important. This wasn't out of greed for all the credit, but if she got them all excited about their find, the diggers wouldn't leave her alone until she translated every last symbol and if it turned out to not be important, they were likely to become upset. It had happened many times before with things more common than the Stelas she was working on.

She packed up her things early on Friday, which obviously surprised both Dr. Lawrence and the other intern, Paulo, since she had been staying later and later into the night the past month.

"Are you heading out already, Dr. James?" Dr. Lawrence called from his office doorway.

"If that's alright with you, sir," she said, swinging her backpack over her shoulder. "I'm waiting on further requisitions and there isn't much more I can do with these until I get them." She gestured at the tablets, which were safely stored away in contamination free boxes on her desk.

"By all means," Dr. Lawrence said, waving a hand to the door. "Lord knows you deserve an afternoon off. I'll see you on Sunday for the Founders Day party?"

"Yes, of course," Erin said, having completely forgotten about the stupid fancy event that all the employees were required to go to. She dreaded it. A bunch of self important people dressed fancily all together in one room with only very small amounts of alcohol? That was bound to be boring. Though maybe it would be entertaining if Zack was going. He had a tendency of making others feel uncomfortable, which usually happened by amusing means. She would have to ask him if he was going.

She was just barely out of her wing of the building, having planned on crossing the courtyard to get to the parking lot, when she spotted Angela sitting on one of the courtyard benches. She might not have stopped to talk to the woman is Angela hadn't looked so downhearted.

"Hey," Erin said, sitting on an adjacent bench. "You okay?"

"What? Oh, yeah, I'm fine," Angela said, shaking her head as she sat up straighter.

"You don't look fine," Erin commented. "Is it the case you are working on? Zack said it was hard to compartmentalize this time."

"We are supposed to keep cases in the lab," Angela said, but she was nodding and her voice was resigned.

"He didn't tell me any specifics," Erin said placatingly. "But it's been in the paper that you guys found the remains of a missing child."

"He's just so small," Angela said, frowning at the ground now. "He was only six. And everyone else seems to be just fine with everything."

"They aren't," Erin said, patting Angela's shoulder. "Zack has a hard time showing emotions and even he was upset when the case first started."

"He told you he was upset?" Angela asked, tilting her head to one side in interest. Erin shrugged.

"Not in so many words," Erin said. "I'm just good at reading people I guess."

"Uh huh," Angela said doubtfully. Erin gave her a smile. Obviously Hodgin's had told the other people in the lab about finding her at Zack's apartment a few weeks ago. "You said your name is Katherine, right?"

"Yeah," Erin said, then shrugged, knowing Angela was fishing. "I prefer Erin though."

"So you _are_ the girl Zack has been-" she cut herself off, but Erin laughed. Angela obviously had a harder time dealing with cases than the others did, and if she needed a bit of gossip to distract her, Erin wouldn't prevent that.

"Sleeping with?" Erin finished for her. "Yep, that's me."

"I thought so but Hodgin's said 'Erin' and he didn't know if you worked here or not so I couldn't be sure," Angela said, leaning forward eagerly. "So… Zack?"

"Yep," Erin said, chuckling. Angela's voice was quiet now, obviously not wanting to be overheard, thought the courtyard was empty now.

"Why?" Angela asked, her voice curious rather than rude. Erin shrugged.

"He's nice. And cute," she said, and Angela chuckled.

"So are puppies," Angela said.

"Well I also like puppies so that is a good comparison," Erin said straight faced. Angela laughed at that.

"But you aren't dating?" Angela asked, fishing again. Erin shrugged again.

"We agreed that both of us were too busy to be dating, so we are just… friends with benefits," she said, though she couldn't help the frown at the spoken words.

"I see," Angela said, and Erin made an effort to clear her face, but it was too late. Angela had seen the expression. "And this was Zack's idea?"

"Well, sort of. Not the wording, that was mine," Erin said. "But he came up with the idea. I just agreed."

"I'll have to knock some sense into that boy," Angela said, shaking her head.

"Please don't," Erin said quickly. "It's fine."

"But you obviously like him," Angela said, confused. "Don't you want to date him?"

"I'm not good at dating people," Erin said. "I get too consumed by my work."

"So does Zack," Angela said, but Erin ignored her.

"I don't do well with feelings, and I just don't have time to actually date. Besides, Zack doesn't feel the same way," Erin said, verbalizing the mental list she had made herself.

"Of course he does," Angela said, shaking her head in frustration. "He talks about you all the time."

"He does?" Erin asked, forgetting herself for a moment. Then she shook her head. "No, it doesn't matter. I don't want to date."

"But you do like him?" Angela prompted.

"We agreed that feelings wouldn't be part of our… relationship," Erin said, avoiding the question.

"But you like him," Angela continued, not letting it drop. Erin sighed.

"I don't know," Erin said, looking into her lap as she twisted her hands together. "Maybe."

"So that's why you've been avoiding him for the last couple weeks?" Angela asked, nodding in understanding.

"What? No, I haven't been avoiding him," Erin said, frowning. "I've just been really busy with a project I've been working on and before that I had my dissertation…"

"Sure," Angela said, patting Erin's knee. Erin sighed. Angela obviously didn't believe her. They were both silent for a few moments.

"Can you do me a favor and not tell Zack we talked, please?" Erin asked. "I don't want him getting any ideas about… anything."

"Of course," Angela said, miming zipping her lips shut. "Can you do me a favor in return?"

"I can try," Erin said.

"We all think of Zack as a younger brother, so could you try not to do anything that would hurt him?" Angela asked. "These kinds of relationships usually end badly, and I don't want to see Zack moping around the lab."

"He wouldn't mope," Erin said, chuckling. "He's very good at compartmentalizing his emotions."

"All the same though," Angela said. She was smiling but her face was serious.

"Of course," Erin said. "I would never want to hurt him. He's my best friend."

"And you love him," Angela said, straight faced.

"No I don't!" Erin said, getting to her feet.

"Calm down," Angela said, chuckling. "I was joking."

"It wasn't a very good joke," Erin said, frowning.

"Touchy subject?" Angela asked, chuckling again.

"No," Erin said, shaking her head. She swung her backpack over her shoulder, deciding to go talk to Zack and invite him over tonight. She didn't want him to think she was avoiding him again.

"Hey," Angela said, getting to her feet as well. "The Founders Day party is on Sunday, are you going?"

"I have to," Erin said. "Otherwise I wouldn't bother."

"Would you like to get ready with us before it?" Angela asked. "Dr. Brennan and I were planning on meeting at the lab a couple hours early to get dressed."

"Oh," Erin said, thinking. Then she shrugged. "Sure, thanks."

"Great," Angela said, grinning. "There probably won't be many people here on Sunday so just come right on back to my office, it's the third one against the right hand wall."

"Okay," Erin said, smiling. "See you then."

"Bye," Angela said.

Erin made her way to the lab, waiting just inside the door till one of the lab techs came over to her. They had a real talent for spotting people who weren't supposed to be there. She conveyed her request and the tech ran off to find Zack. She stayed only long enough to invite him to her place after he was done here before she left the too clean room.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

"Oh good, you're here," Angela said as Erin hesitantly approached her office Sunday evening. "I was starting to think you had ditched us."

"Sorry," Erin said, setting hr backpack on the floor in Angela's office next to her couch. "I got distracted with work."

"I can see that," Angela said, giving Erin a once over. Erin's jeans were covered with dirt particles from one of the instruments Erin had spent the afternoon cleaning. Just because her own project was at a bit of a dead end didn't mean there weren't a ton of other things int he department to work on, and Erin had arrived at the museum just after lunch time. Zack had stayed at her apartment Friday night, all of Saturday, and Saturday night, leaving on Sunday morning only because he had been called into work. So Erin had come to work in an attempt to keep herself from overthinking the changing relationship between her and Zack. "I hope you brought a dress," Angela said, bringing Erin back to the conversation. The other woman was already dressed, hair and make up done.

"I did," Erin said, pulling a knee length black dress from her backpack. Angela tsk'd her blatant ignorance of proper dress storing as Erin brushed the few wrinkles out of dress and held it up.

"Very nice," Angela said, getting a full view of it. It was just a simple dress, all black with no patterns, two thin straps to go over her shoulders, and a v shaped neckline. It was fitted to the waist then flared out into a full skirt which would end a little above her knees. "You can change in here, I'll guard the door."

"Okay," Erin said, shaking her head. There were wide windows between Angela's office and the rest of the lab, so if anyone came in, guarding the door wouldn't matter much, but Erin quickly stripped off her work clothes and pulled the dress over her head within moments. "Finished!" She called to Angela as she tucked her other clothes into her backpack.

"That was fast," Angela said, coming back into the room. "Lets do something with your hair."

"Do I have to?" Erin muttered , but she followed Angela from the room to another office .

"This is Dr. Brennan," Angela said, waving a hand to a woman bent over her desk. Brennan looked up at her name. "This is Erin, Zack's girlfriend."

"We aren't dating," Erin said, shaking her head. "It's nice to meet you Dr. Brennan."

"You as well Erin," Dr. Brennan said, holding a hand out to shake. Erin shook it, then stood at the side of the desk feeling a little awkward.

"Sit here," Angela said. "I'm going to do your hair."

"It's really not necessary," Erin said, but she sat anyway. "None of the donors are going to be talking to me, I'm not the head of my department."

"Well you should still look nice," Angela said, twisting parts of Erin's harry away from her face. Erin sighed but didn't argue since Angela would just do whatever she wanted anyway. "I have some makeup in my office, bee right back," Angela said a few moments later, and Erin sighed again as the woman left the room.

"Do you work at the Jeffersonian, Ms...?" Brennan asked after a couple moments of silence.

"James," Erin finished for her. "Yes, I work in Egyptology."

"Oh, of course. Katherine James, correct?" Brennan asked, and Erin nodded, surprised the woman knew who she was. She seemed to be a little socially awkward, much like Zack was, and completely work oriented, from what she had heard. "You just received your Doctorate a few weeks ago. I have a copy of your dissertation somewhere that I've been meaning to read."

"Really?" Erin asked, frowning. "Why? It has nothing to do with forensics."

"A friend of mine on your review panel told me you have been researching the use of sonic energy to create an in depth picture of underground tombs. He thought it would be interesting to compare to the technology we use in our field," Brennan said.

"Under sand, actually. Not under ground," Erin couldn't help but correct. "There are plenty of machines that work to detect images of things buried underground. I was researching a way to use the same technology to view things buried under sand since there are a lot of mentioned tombs yet undiscovered of pharaohs and other important people in Egypt that have remained hidden because sonic imagery doesn't work unless the ground is a certain density. I modified the technology that already exists to read the refracted waves that returned through the sand to put together a mostly complete picture of anything underneath."

"Very impressive," Brennan said as Angela came hurrying back into the room.

"It's all just theory. I haven't been able to test it yet since I didn't have funding," Erin said, shrugging. "The current ambassador from Egypt's children have taken an interest in my dissertation. Nenet, his daughter has sent my research to her brother in Giza and if he finds the research sound he may fund a prototype based off my paper."

"That is wonderful," Brennan said, nodding. Erin tried not to flinch as Angela began dusting different things onto her face.

"I hope so," Erin said. "None of my work has been retested or peer reviewed yet so it may not happen."

"All the same, your work is being studied," Brennan said. "That is more than many newly awarded doctorates have succeeded in so early."

"Coming from her that is definitely praise," Angela said, grinning as she stood back. "I'm done."

"Thank you," Erin said to both of them.

"Lets go, the limo should be arriving soon," Angela said.

"I'll be there in a minute," Brennan said, bending back over her desk.

Erin followed Angela out into the main part of the lab where Zack and Hodgins were waiting. Erin grinned at Zack's dress shirt. It was light blue and old fashioned, with ruffles going down the center of it. It looked nice on him though, especially since it was mostly hidden by his tuxedo jacket.

"Hello Erin," he said as she approached with Angela. "I didn't know you were meeting us here."

"Angela invited me," she said with a shrug.

"That is not a tuxedo, Dr. Hodgins," the director of the Jeffersonian said, walking into the lab.

"I'm not going, Dr. Goodman," Hodgins replied as Dr. Goodman put a paper name tag into his lab coat pocket. Erin raised an eyebrow at the comment. She wouldn't have had enough courage to stand up to her boss's boss.

"You _are_ going," Dr. Goodman said, frowning at Hodgins before he walked further into the lab. "The donors will all be wearing name tags," he said, passing one to Angela, then one to Zack. "And you are?" He asked, catching sight of Erin.

"Dr. Katherine James from Egyptology," she said, holding out a hand to shake. She had met him before, but only once, so there was really no reason he would remember her name.

"You need a name tag, Dr. James," he said.

"Oh, right," she said, nodding. "I have one in my bag."

"I suggest you get it," he said, then turned to Angela. Erin went to Angela's office where she had left her backpack and fished around for the slightly crumpled name tag Dr. Lawrence had given her earlier in the week. She clipped it onto her left shoulder strap so it hung just above her breast, then went back out to the group.

"What happened?" Erin heard Dr. Brennan ask as she came back into the main lab area. Angela was hugging Dr. Goodman and he looked distinctly uncomfortable.

"Apparently all Angela needed was to hear he job description in a deep, african -american voice," Zack said. Erin elbowed his side and he looked down at her, confused.

"Mr. Addy," Dr. Goodman began, his voice conveying his fed up attitude. Erin suppressed a chuckle. She never would have guessed that all these people who held fancy doctorates in important things would have a sense of humor.

"Dr. Goodman, we need Dr. Hodgins in the lab tonight," a man in a suit said, walking into the lab. "The FBI needs this analyzed by morning." He handed a wrapped package over to Hodgins who looked very relieved to have an excuse not to go to the party.

"Uh, I'll- I'm gonna get right on it," Hodgins said, grinning.

"Wait a minute," Dr. Goodman asked, looking a little put out that Hodgins was dodging his plans. "What case file is this?"

"Am I supposed to know about it?" Dr. Brennan asked, looking confused.

"Oh, um, Booth mentioned it to me earlier today," Angela stepped in. Brennan glanced at her, then shrugged.

"That's good enough for me," she said. Dr. Goodman looked between them.

"Fine," he said at last. "You're off the hook Dr. Hodgins. Lets not keep the limo waiting," he said to the others, then turned to walk out the lab doors. Zack, Angela, and Erin followed him out into the hall, then out to the parking lot where a very nice looking Limo waited for them. She climbed in after Zack, glad she was sitting between him and Angela. Dr. Goodman made her nervous.

They waited a couple moments for Dr. Brennan to catch up, then they were off to the party, which was held at one of the larger hotel venues in town.

* * *

Erin had been right in her earlier assumption. The party was very boring. It was a lot of rich, older people, and their over entitled children, all running around talking to each other while the people from the lab mingled between them for a few moments at a time, obviously preferring to spend time at the refreshments table instead.

Erin made sure to greet Dr. Lawrence so he knew she was there, and she was surprised to see Nenet, the ambassadors daughter there. She talked to the woman for a few minutes, relaxing at the light conversation, then Erin retreated to a wall on the side of the room. Zack joined her after a couple minutes, a cup of wine in his hand, though he wasn't drinking it. He surprised her by handing it to her.

"What's wrong, you don't like wine?" Erin asked, accepting the drink and taking a sip. "It's very good."

"I have found in the past that I dislike alcohol," he said, moving to lean against the wall next to her and look out at the room.

"So you've never been drunk before?" She asked, grinning. "We are going to change that at some point."

"I got drunk once in college," he said. "I threw up and had a headache the next morning. It wasn't fun."

"It's fun if you drink with the right people," she commented, taking another sip of wine. She had to be careful with this. Usually she didn't like wine, but this was very expensive and very well flavored stuff. If she drank it too quickly she would become tipsy. "Atmosphere is important."

"Have you spoken to any donors?" Zack asked changing the subject.

"A few," she said, shrugging. "Our department doesn't have a lot of funding through the museum so there aren't many to talk to and Dr. Lawrence is taking over that for the most part." She said, pointing to her head of department who was currently chatting with three people.

"You are lucky," Zack said, shaking his head. "Dr. Goodman is making us talk to everyone. I do not converse well with people."

"Why not?" She asked, frowning. "This whole event is practically scripted."

"What do you mean?" He asked, turning to look down at her.

"Well, in every social setting like this there are only a few things that it's appropriate to talk about," she said. "You have to be overly nice to the donors, so ask them about themselves, how they are doing, who they like the event, those kinds of things. They usually respond with a positive answer, because that's the polite thing to do, and they will return the question, which you also respond to in a positive manor. Then you tell them how important their funding is and how grateful you are, then after that you can excuse yourself to talk to someone else or to get a drink. If you were a girl I'd say you should compliment their outfits or hairstyles, but you aren't so you don't have to."

"You seem to be very adept in these kinds of situations," Zack commented, turning back to the room.

"I'm good at observing," she said, shrugging. "And my mother always had her friends over for little gatherings when I was younger. This is the same thing on a bigger scale."

"I see," he said, then sighed as Dr. Goodman spotted him and waved him over.

"Would you like me to go with you?" Erin asked, chuckling.

"No, it's alright," Zack said, frowning.

"Just be polite and pretend to be interested in anything they say," she said, smiling.

"Okay," Zack said, then left. She watched him walk over for a moment, then turned to watch the other people in the room.

Zack came back to her a few minutes later, smiling.

"I take it your conversation went well?" She asked, raising one eyebrow.

"Not at all," he said, smiling wider. "I did the opposite of the things you told me."

"Um, why?" She asked, tilting her head to the side.

"Dr. Goodman told me that I should consider not talking to any of the other people here for the remainder of the party," he said, still smiling. Erin chuckled and shook her head.

"You are quite conniving when you want to be," she said, smiling now. "So what are we going to do now that you have been relieved of your social duties?"

"We could leave," he said, shrugging. "But it's a long walk back to the lab."

"We could sneak off into a broom cupboard," she suggested jokingly, taking another sip of her wine.

"What for?" He asked, confused. She looked up at him for a moment, then chuckled.

"You really didn't live much in high school did you?" She said, shaking her head.

"I don't understand," he said, frowning. Erin looked up at him for a moment, then looked around, trying to see where the people she knew were at. When she didn't spot any of them nearby, she finished off her wine and grabbed his hand to lead him from the room, setting her empty wine glass down on a table as she went. He followed her without protest though he was still confuse.

When they made it out of the room into the other parts of the fancy hotel, she began looking for an unoccupied room, grinning when she found a small room with an ice machine and a vending machine in it. She pulled him in and moved the kickstand from the door to let it fall shut. Then she turned to him.

"This isn't a broom cupboard," he said, frowning in confusion.

"It's the same concept," she said, stalking towards him with a grin on her face. He backed against the only open wall as she approached.

"Erin," he said, then cleared his throat. "I think I understand now."

"Do you?" She whispered, coming to a stop only an inch from him.

"'Go find a broom cupboard' is a metaphor for finding an unoccupied room to engage in sexual activities," he said, and she leaned back a little, chuckling.

"Half right," she said, grinning. "Not sex, just making out. Though I suppose sex could happen."

"While this is better than the party, why would we come here instead of just renting out a room? We are in a hotel," he said. She leaned closer again.

"Because," she began, running her hands up his arms, which had automatically fallen to her waist as they always did when she was too close to him. "At any moment, someone could walk through that door. We aren't supposed to be here. The adrenalin caused from doing something you aren't supposed to be doing where someone might catch you makes it all more exciting."

"Oh," he said. She grinned as he leaned down to kiss her. She flattened herself against him, standing on her toes to get closer as they kissed. She pulled his lower lip between her teeth, giving it a little bite, and smiled to herself as he let out a soft moan. One of his hands wrapped around her waist while the other one slid up to her neck to tilt her head back.

She was just starting to really get into it when a throat cleared behind her and she pulled away, turning to face a cleaning lady whose brow was raised, arms crossed over her chest.

"Oh, sorry," Erin said, grinning at the woman. She just rolled her eyes and stood aside, gesturing for them to leave. Erin grabbed Zack's hand and pulls him past the woman. They walked down two random halls before she let out a breath and a small chuckle.

"I think I like broom cupboards," Zack commented as the noise from the Founders Day party reached them. "Except the part where were were interrupted."

"That's half the fun," Erin said, grinning as she let go of Zack's hand to pat her hair back into place. "It's like a preview of what will happen later."

"Later?" Zack asked, frowning.

"Yeah, after the party," Erin said, chuckling again. "When we are alone."

"Oh," he said.

"Does my hair look okay?" She asked as they stopped outside one of the entry doors to the large ballroom. He glanced over her hair, then her face, then her dress.

"All of you looks very nice," he said. She smiled.

"Thanks," she said. "That was almost a properly worded compliment."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

"Dr. James, you have a visitor."

"Thanks Lori," Erin said, smiling at the new intern. This girl was very peppy and friendly, unlike Paulo. She was a little overly friendly though. She had a habit of battering on about nothing while she worked, which was fine with Erin since the girl did the work properly and Erin was good at ignoring people, but Dr. Laurence found it an annoying habit. She wasn't sur of Paulo's opinion since he never voiced any.

Erin carefully removed the gloves she was wearing and dropped them into a trash bin.

"No problem," the girl said, grinning.

"Could you please finish cleaning the items in bit number four? Then you can go home for the night," Erin said.

"Sure thing," Lori said, turning to head down the stairs to the basement. Erin sighed when she was gone, then headed to the door of the department.

"Hey, Angela," Erin said, spotting the woman near one of the display cases of old artifacts. "What's up?"

"I used to to think the lab was a depressing place but it's like a cave in here," Angela said, looking around at the numerous towering shelves, which did make the room seem smaller from here.

"There are large windows over the work area," Erin said, shrugging. "It's nicer during the day."

"I'm sure," Angela said in a doubtful voice. "Anyway, I came to invite you to a club with me and Brennan."

"Oh," Erin said, frowning. "Clubs aren't really my thing."

"But it'll be fun," Angela said. "I know this great place down town-"

"You're just hoping that if more people are going, Dr. Brennan won't say no when you ask her," Erin guessed, shifting her weight to one foot with a hand on her hip.

"Wrong," Angela said, grinning. "She's already agreed to go."

"Then why do you need me there?" Erin asked, tilting her head.

"I thought you could use some fun," Angela said.

"Well," Erin said, hesitating. She had been frustrated all week because the photos she had requisitioned still hadn't been sent to her. "I guess I could go. What time?"

"Around eight," Angela said, grinning now.

"Okay, fine," Erin said, resigned. She had planned on hanging out with Zack, as she usually did on Friday's, but he had something school related to work on so she was at a loss. "I'll meet you here?"

"Sounds good. Wear something cute," Angela said, then disappeared through the doors. Erin sighed, but returned to her work.

* * *

That night she arrived at the museum five minutes till eight. She had put on some cute shorts and a tank top and had even curled her hair away from her face a little. Hopefully that was enough of 'dressed up' for Angela to be happy with.

"Right on time," Angela said, exiting the building with Brennan just as Erin was about to pull the door open. "You look cute."

"Thanks," Erin said. "Hello Dr. Brennan."

"Hello Dr. James," she said. Erin still felt a little uncomfortable around the woman, mostly because Brennan had a tendency to make everyone around her feel like they were back in school, and partly because Zack looked up to her and valued her opinions.

The club was about twenty minutes away from the Jeffersonian and Erin passed the ride in silence, listening to the conversation between Brennan and Angela about skeletons from WWI. From what Erin was able to gather, Brennan was trying to provide an acceptable argument for why she shouldn't go to the club. Angela wasn't doing much to argue back since they were already on their way there.

The club was loud and crowded, but as all three of them were attractive women with low cut shirts, it didn't take long to get their drinks. Erin downed hers in one go, not wanting to carry it onto the dance floor, where Angela was obviously heading.

They danced for less than a minute before Brennan's social ineptness struck. Erin hadn't heard what she had said over the loud rap music, but suddenly there was a group of people surrounding Angela and Brennan. Erin pushed her way into their circle, not wanting to miss out on whatever was happening.

Moments later, one of the women facing Brennan threw a punch. Brennan dodged it and grabbed the woman's arm, pushing her into the crowd behind them. Angela and Erin both turned to watch Brennan's back, seeing that this was turning into a fight. Angela tripped someone who was circling around, and Erin misdirected a second punch thrown, but was suddenly hit from behind as Brennan practically threw a heavily muscled man into her by accident. She stumped towards a wall, intending to catch herself, but the man stumbled too, and the wall caved in, resulting in a cloud of white powder bursting into the air. At first, Erin thought it was just plaster dust, or something to that effect, but then she noticed the strange taste on her tongue.

The man was pulled off of her and she was lifted out of the wall just in time to hear the screaming start. Her mind, which was oddly focused in the situation, took in Brennan and Angela, both approaching quickly, and the fact that the music had stopped and a crowd had gathered, and that there was a body in the wall where she had landed. All of this information was processed before Angela reached her and pulled her back.

"Try not to breathe any more of it in," Angela said, waving her hand to clear the air in front of Erin's face. "Are you okay? I need some water over here!" The last sentence was shouted over her shoulder.

Erin coughed when she tried to respond, and then couldn't stop coughing, her throat burning from whatever she had inhaled. She accepted the cup of water from Angela when the other woman shoved it toward her and downed the whole thing.

"What happened?" Erin asked when she was finally able to speak. Her heart was racing, probably from the coughing. "What was that?"

"Meth," Angela said, then chuckled as Erin's eyes widened. "You got quite a bit. Do you feel okay?"

"I feel… really energetic," Erin said, looking back towards the wall.

"That happens," Angela said, looking up at Brennan's voice as it got louder. Brennan was obviously shouting that everyone needed to back away so the remains weren't compromised. Erin might have followed those directions, but now that the air was clear again she could get a clear view of the body. Usually, she didn't like the idea of freshly dead bodies, but this one was different.

"Wow," she said, taking a few steps closer to peer into the wall. "He's been almost perfectly mummified. The Egyptians would remove the internal organs, give the body a cedar oil enema and then rinse it with wine and cover it with salt, but that isn't what was done here. "Oh!" She said all of that in a very fast voice, but both Angela and Dr. Brennan were listening intently. "Feel that?" She had just stepped in front of the opening in the wall. She held her hands up as a draft came through the opening. "There must be a dry air convection behind the wall. That's probably what removed all the moisture from his body. How interesting!"

"Yeah, so interesting," Angela said sarcastically.

"I can't judge a time of death at this juncture," Dr. Brennan added. "I'll need to wait for Hodgins to get the insect activity. Have you worked with a lot of mummies before, Dr. James?"

"I'll call Booth," Angela said, shaking her head at their conversation.

"None so modern," Erin said, her eyes coasting over the body again. "The ones I'm used to seeing are thousands of years old. I can say for sure that this wasn't a ritualistic killing. None of the organs were removed and the positioning is all wrong. It's likely that the body was simply left to decompose and the mummification happened accidentally. It's still fascinating though."

"Would you like to help us analyze the remains when we get them back to the lab, Dr. James?" Brennan asked, nodding along with Erin's assessment.

"I'd love to," Erin said, then frowned. "I'm not sure I'm qualified though."

"Who better qualified to examine a mummy than someone with a doctorate in mummies?" Angela asked, returning in time to hear the end of the conversation. "The FBI is on the way."

"My doctorate is in Egyptology, not mummies," Erin said, frowning. "A very small portion of my studies was focused on mummification. I meant that I don't think I'm qualified to work on a murder case."

"We don't know that it was murder yet, Dr. James," Brennan said, crouching down to get a better look at something in the wall.

"All the same, my point still stands," Erin said, spotting a tall guy in a suit approaching the area. "I think the FBI is here."

"We can bring you into the lab as a professional consultant and the FBI can run their background check later," Brennan said, but she didn't seem to be paying attention any more.

"If you don't mind than yeah, I'd love to get a closer look at him," Erin said, standing on her toes to peer around Brennan.

"Ma'am, I'm going to have to ask you to clear the premises," the tall guy in the suit said, getting Erin's attention. She glanced around, noticing that the crowd of people had been sent away as well.

"Agent Furst," Dr. Brennan said, turning to face the man. "This is Dr. James, she is helping with this investigation."

"You are not in charge of this case, Dr. Brennan. This is a matter for the FBI," he said, face straight. Erin rolled her eyes, then stepped around him to stand beside Dr. Brennan. "Cordon off this area boys."

"Absolutely not," Dr. Brennan said, stepping forward. "Anything you do may compromise the remains." One of the men ignored her and she grabbed his arm as he passed, twisting it around, then shoved him into the second guy.

"Dr. Brennan!" The agent said indignantly. "You cannot assault a FBI agent."

"And you can't compromise these remains," she replied.

"I want to be her when I grow up," Erin said to Angela, who had come up beside her. "She's so badass."

"I think you've inhaled a bit too much," Angela said, grinning.

The rest of the lab team arrived at the same time Booth did, and Dr. Brennan excitedly showed all of them the mummy, then forced Erin to repeat what she had said about the mummification process earlier. After that, Erin went back to the bar to get another glass of water as her throat was beginning to burn again.

"Erin, Agent Furst is going to take us to the hospital,: Angela said, calling her over.

"Why?" Erin asked, looking back towards the body. "I want to stay and-"

"You inhaled a ton of meth," Angela said, taking her arm and dragging her away from the group. "The paramedics said that everyone affect should go get tested for the levels in their blood just in case because there might be a lot of side effects."

"Does Dr. Brennan have to go?" Erin asked, seeing the other women crouching near the body.

"No," Angela said, grinning. "None of them want to force her since she seems to be an attacking mood."

"Can we go back to the lab after the hospital?" Erin asked, still frowning. "I want to be there when they bring him back."

"Of course you do," Angela said, rolling her eyes. "You know, I almost thought you were normal, but you are just like the rest of them. Obsessed with death."

"I'm not obsessed with death," Erin said, letting Angela lead her out into the parking lot. "I'm just interested in the mummification process and anything else related to ancient Egyptians. They had a fascinating culture."

"Yeah, okay," Angela said, shaking her head again.

* * *

The hospital released them half an hour later with a list of warning signs to look out for. They had wanted to keep Erin there until her heart rate slowed, but she insisted that she felt fine. They may have still kept her, but Angela promised to keep an eye on her.

They arrived at the lab before Brennan or the body, so Angela took the opportunity to show her around the place, pointing out everyones usual stations and work areas, then giving her a basic rundown of what some of the equipment did.

"We use one of these too," Erin said, pointing to the mass spectrometer. "For carbon dating particulates we take off our artifacts."

"Exciting," Angela said dryly. Erin grinned at her. "Oh, the body's here. I'll be in my office."

"Bye Angela," Erin said, smiling. "Thanks for inviting me out tonight, it was fun."

"Yeah well doing meth wasn't exactly my plan for a good night," Angela said, retreating into her office.

"Oh good, you're here Dr. James," Dr. Brennan said, coming through the lab door s and spotting her immediately.

"Have you worked with mummified corpses before?" Erin asked, following the woman up onto the platform where some technicians were carefully unloading the body.

"A few times, but never one so modern," Brennan said, holding a box of gloves out to Erin. She took them, then tied her hair up before putting them on. "I have studied mummies discovered in a mine in Siberia which were preserved through exposure to salt in the mines, and I analyzed remains in Siberia discovered on the Ukok plateau in the Altai Mountians near the Mongolian border."

"The saltmen and the Ice Maiden?" Erin asked, recalling her own studies of the areas.

"Very good, Dr. James," Brennan said, still crouched over the bones. "Have you seen those remains as well?"

"No," Erin said, standing back from the table so she wasn't in the way. "I've read extensively about both though. My department is made up of mostly privately funded studies and as I was only an intern until recently, I haven't had the chance to study the actual mummies."

"It is a fascinating study, if you ever get the chance to do so, you should," Brennan said. "What do you make of the structural quality of the skin?"

"It looks well preserved. I don't think it's too dry to work with since it lasted the journey here in good shape," Erin said, following the change of subject almost as quickly as Brennan had changed it. "Were you thinking of rehydrating the flesh?"

"Just the hands," Brennan said. "For fingerprints so we can get an ID."

"I'm not used to working with specimens that we are able to disassemble," Erin said, gently touching the dried skin of the hands. "Do you used a saline solution for rehydration?"

"Have you a different suggestion?" Dr. Brennan asked, softly twisting one of the arms so the hand was held away from the body.

"We use fabric softener," Erin said, chuckling. "But we usually only work with very small parts of skin and that is a rare occurrence."

"Zack," Brennan called over her shoulder, and Erin turned in surprise. She hadn't heard anyone else come up behind them, but Brennan's team was standing there waiting for instructions. "I want x-rays of the remains, then you can remove the hands and soak them in a concentrated saline solution."

"Yes, Dr. Brennan," he said, leaving the station.

"Dr. Hodgins," Brennan said, waving the man forward. "Swab for particulates and insect activity. The sooner we are able to ID this man the better."

"I could try to make a sketch of him from the remains," Erin said at the same time Angela spoke.

"I need the skull for a facial reconstruction." They looked at each other, then smiled.

"Sorry," Erin said, putting her hands up. "If that's what you do then I'm sure you are better at it than I am. I just do it for fun."

"With the skin on?" Angela asked, looking mildly disgusted.

"The mummies I work with aren't the kind you can take apart," Erin said, shaking her head. "I usually draw out a sketch of what they might have looked like before the mummification process based on their underlying bone structure and their clothing."

"Clothing?" Angela asked. Erin went to stand beside her as Brennan continued looking at the body.

"I can usually estimate their body size by the clothing they were buried in and the way the skin has dried over time," Erin said, shrugging. "I don't know how accurate I am since the only thing I have to base my drawings on are old paintings."

"Why don't you try it on this guy?" Angela said. "Once Dr. Brennan has the skin removed I don't think you are going to have much to do. We can compare your drawing to mine when I get the skull."

"Well since I don't feel tired in the slightest maybe I will take you up on that," Erin said, grinning. "I don't have any materials here though. Can I borrow some of yours?"

"Sure," Angela said, leaning back against the platform railings.

"So do you do any art besides drawing people's faces?" Erin asked, watching as Zack came back and pushed the body on it's table into a different room to get x-rays.

"I used to do more than I do now," Angela said, shrugging. "All the paintings in my office are mine, and I have more at home."

"That's really neat," Erin said. "I was interested in art when I was younger but my parents said I would never be abel to make a viable career out of it so I wasn't allowed to take many classes. I just sketch for fun mostly. I've never tried painting."

"It's fun," Angela said. "Maybe you could come to my place sometime and I could teach you."

"That sounds like a terrible pick up line," Erin said, chuckling. "But yeah, that you be fun."

"My pick up lines are never terrible," Angela said, winking before she disappeared into her office. Erin chuckled, then turned back to watch the proceedings. The lab was much more comfortable to be in now since it was very late and nearly empty.

* * *

"Okay, it's a lot harder using modern clothing as a specification, but here's what I came up with," Erin said, holding up her sketch nearly forty minutes later. Angela came over from her desk to get a closer look.

Erin had left the lab platform about five minutes after Brennan declared that the flesh could be removed, saying that she didn't know very much about bones or murder cases, and had spent the remaining time in Angela's office, working on her sketch from memory and from a couple photographs of the body.

"Nice," Angela said, looking over the drawing. "You have some real talent here. We'll see how close I can get it once Zack is done putting the tissue markers on the skull."

"Do you mind if I look around your paintings while we wait?" Erin asked, setting the sketch on the couch.

"Go ahead," Angela said, returning to her computer.

Erin walked slowly around the room, her eyes coasting over the paintings one by one. There were a lot of them here, stacked over each other against the walls. As she looked, Angela finally received the skull and began using an electronic sketching pad and a bunch of other technology Erin didn't know how to use to get a composite f the skull, then the muscles, then the face, all displayed on a matrix style projecting table. The whole process took less than ten minutes.

"This is amazing," Erin said, her interest fully caught by the image forming above the table. "You designed this?"

"Yeah," Angela said. "I call it the 'Angelatron'."

"Great name," Erin said, walking around the table to take int he image from all angles. "And I thought drawing was a good hobby."

"Could you get Dr. Brennan please? She'll want to see," Angela said, changing some settings on her computer pad.

"Sure," Erin said. She had gathered not only Dr. Brennan, but the others in the lab as well within a couple minutes.

"Stress markers indicate he was approximately 160-180 lbs, and about 5'10" tall," Zack said, reading off a paper in his hands. Angela readjusted something on her program and the face filled out a little more.

"Good, Angela," Brennan said. "We can run him through the missing person's database in the morning. For now, everyone go home and get some sleep." She turned and left the room, followed by who Erin had been told was Agent Booth from the FBI."

"Want to compare your sketch," Angela asked, grinning at Erin. Erin retrieved her drawing from the couch and held it up in front of her and Angela.

"I guessed he was 190lbs, but that was a bit high. His clothes were so baggy it was hard to tell," she said, but grinned anyway. "I got his cheekbones and eyes right though."

"This is pretty accurate," Angela said, nodding, then she chuckled. "If you ever give up this crazy doctoral work you could come work for me as an assistant."

"If my job ever becomes obsolete I'll let you know," Erin said, shaking her head.

"Why are you guys still here?" Angela asked, shutting down her computer.

"We weren't sure who was taking Zack home," Hodgins said with a wink in Erin's direction.

"I can if you want," Erin said, looking to Zack.

"Sure," he said, shrugging. Hodgins chuckled, but left the room without further comment.

"Bye Angela," Erin said, waving to the woman. "See you later."

"Bye," Angela called. Erin and Zack left the lab, heading toward the parking lot.

"Are you sure it's safe for you to be driving?" Zack asked as they climbed into her car.

"Why wouldn't it be?" Erin asked pulling the door closed.

"Because you are high on Meth," Zack said, rolling his eyes.

"It's starting to wear off," Erin said, though she wasn't sure that was true. "Maybe if you learned how to drive I'd let you drive home but since there aren't any other alternatives theres no point in speculating."

"True," Zack said. Erin smiled. She liked winning arguments with Zack, mainly because he actually let her win when she was right instead of dragging the argument out to save his pride like most people did.

"Did you actually want to go home or did you want to come over?" Erin asked as she drove.

"If I chose the second option does that mean we will have sex?" Zack asked. Erin chuckled.

"We don't have to have sex every time you come over," she said. "You could just stay over."

"Why?" He asked, but she could tell he was actually wondering, not trying to be hurtful.

"Because sometimes the presence of another person is soothing," she said. "Like after finding a dead body in a wall at a club."

"My personality has never been described as 'soothing'," he said.

"Well it is, sometimes," she said, losing interest in the argument.

"You find my presence soothing?" He asked, voice confused. She sighed.

"Yes, I just said that," she said. "Sometimes it's nice to just be around someone you trust. Not everyone is as comfortable around murder victims as you are."

"We don't know that he was murdered," Zack said. Erin sighed and shook her head. He really was obtuse at times.

"Do you want to come over or go home?" She asked again. "We can have sex if you want to."

"I would like to come over," Zack said. She nodded to herself. She didn't really want to be alone when she tried to go to sleep tonight after seeing the dismembered hands and, maybe worse, the actual face of the victim. It was unnerving to think about since she was used to people who had died thousands of years ago, not people who had been alive recently and still had families. She knew that she would have trouble getting to sleep tonight since movies like that always kept her up. Once her mind had a chance to catch up with the day.

"Are you upset?" Zack asked, glancing over at her.

"No, why would I be?" She asked.

"You are driving much too quickly, you're tapping your fingers, and you are scowling," he said, frowning.

"Oh," she said, easing her foot off the accelerator. "I didn't realizing I was doing that. Good job reading body language."

"So you are upset?" He asked, frowning deeper as she turned onto the street her apartment was on.

"I'm not upset," she said. "Not about anything important anyway."

"Angela says that people usually like to talk about it when they are upset," Zack said.

"That's because Angela is very social and extroverted," she muttered. "I'm fine, Zack."

"Okay," he said, turning back to look out the front of the car.

They arrived at her apartment and Erin was surprised to see a blue piece of paper taped to the door. She hadn't seen one of those in over a month, not since she had lost her temper with her mother. She set it not he table without reading it. She didn't want to be in a bad mood tonight. She left her things by the door, shivering a little as she finally began to notice how cold it had gotten outside. She turned the thermostat in the hallway up a little, then listened as the heat kicked on. It was still early October, but she was suddenly freezing. Zack followed her into her room, used to being here by now. She dug through her dressed to find warmer clothing to sleep in, then turned to him, surprised when he was much closer than expected. He usually let her initiate their sexual encounters, only progressing as far as she did first.

Today he reached out to her first, pulling her closer to him in a hug. She relaxed against him, pleasantly surprised at the action, and wrapped her arms around his waist.

"I'd like to know what's upsetting you if I had something to do with it," he said softly, one of his hands running back and forth across her shoulder blade. She sighed, and smiled.

"You didn't," she said, then pulled back. "It's stupid really. I'm just not used to working around bodies that are… recent. It's a little bit unnerving to think about."

"Oh," he said, nodding. "I understand. It took a while for me to get used to as well."

"Really?" She asked, looking up at him now. He just nodded, then turned back to the door to turn the light off. He tugged her into the bed a moment later, but his hands wrapped around her stomach and didn't deviate an inch up or down as he tugged her back against his chest. She sighed, letting his warmth wrap around her and then, despite her earlier worrying that it would be difficult to sleep, she was out within moments.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

Erin woke up the next morning to the sun on her face. She was comfortably warm and well rested, which didn't happen for her often. She snuggled back into the warm body behind her, intending on staying in bed all day, but the arm around her tightened, letting her know that Zack was awake already. She turned to face him, burying her have in his shoulder with a sigh.

Sooner or later she would have to start thinking about her feelings towards Zack instead of just ignoring them. She had been the one to make the stipulation about feelings, which had mostly been for herself because she knew that in the past she tended to develop an attachment to people who showed her affection of any kind. It hadn't seemed to have worked very well.

She moved her hands around his back until she was hugging him to her, then kissed the part of his neck that was right in from of her. He shivered and she grinned.

"You are unusually affectionate this morning," he said, his voice still rough from sleep. Their mornings were usually a little hurried because one or both of them had to be at work so they didn't have too much free time to spend cuddling in the morning.

"Well I think I promised sex last night and I don't want to go back on my word," she said, her voice muffled as she kissed up to his jaw. His arms tightened around her again, pulling her closer to him. She twisted her leg up to wrap around his. Sometime during the night he had shed his work clothes that she was sure he had still been wearing when she had fallen asleep.

"Erin," Zack said, pushing her back from him a little, his voice clearer. "Yesterday when you were upset because of the body-"

"Do you really want to talk about that right now?" She asked, raising one eyebrow. His boxers were thin and she could easily feel how excited he was.

"Yes, it's important," he said. The tone of his voice made her lean back to look at him again.

"Okay," she said. "Continue, please."

"Well I was thinking about it and I have come to realise that the reason you were upset is because you needed comfort from a friend and I didn't agree to come over until after you offered sex which must have given you the impression that I only wanted to spend time with you if sex was included," he said all of this very quickly, as though he thought she would get angry at the accusation. "This led me to realise that you must think that you owe me sex because of our agreement."

It took her a moment to realise he was finished, and then another minute before she could form words to reply to that.

"I... Thought you were bad at reading emotional situations," she said, not agreeing or disagreeing. He sighed and rested back in the pillow.

"I just wanted to clarify that I am your friend, and if you need a friend to talk to, I might not understand, but you don't have to bribe me with sexual acts," he said.

"Zack," she said slowly, considering telling him about her half formed feelings. "You're a really good friend," she said, changing her mind. "Besides, I enjoy having sex with you so it's not really a bribe."

"I dot want you to be upset," he said. She smiled, but didn't reply, instead she rolled over until she was above him, then leaned down to kiss him.

* * *

"Erin, I think your phone is ringing," Zack called from the living room. Erin was still in her bedroom getting dressed. She glanced at the clock above her dressed and frowned. The only person calling her at seven thirty in the morning would be her mother.

She considered ignoring it, but with the note and the phone call, maybe her mother was trying to make amends or something.

"Hello?" She asked, flipping the phone open without checking the number.

"Erin? It's Angela," Angela said. Erin raised an eyebrow.

"Hey," she said. "What's up?"

"Do you know where Zack is by any chance," Angela asked, her voice suspicious.

"I might," Erin said, glancing over at Zack. "Why?"

"Well usually when someone who has never been late to work is over an hour late and not at home with no excuse, we start to wonder," she said, her voice dry. Erin glanced over at her microwave clock, frowning when she saw that that one said it was almost ten. She looked back to Zack with apologetic eyes.

"He'll be there in fifteen minutes," she said. "Sorry Ang."

"No worries, Brennan is napping in her office, she's been here all night so she hasn't noticed he's late yet," Angela said, and Erin could hear the teasing in her voice. She hung up, not bothering to say bye.

"So," she said, ringing her hands a little. "The clock in my bedroom is dead, it's not 7:30."

"What time is it?" Zack asked, pulling his shoes on.

"Almost ten," she said, sliding her sandals on. "You're late for work, that was Angela calling."

"I've never been late to work before," he said, though his voice wasn't stressed as hers would have been if she were late. "I can't say I dislike the experience so far." Erin chuckled.

"Do you need to stop at home on the way?" She asked, grabbing her keys. She didn't have anything extra to work on in her department so she would just come home after dropping him off.

"Yes please," he said. "I need to change my clothes."

"You should just keep some here," she said absentmindedly. "I mean, just in case you need them."

"I agree," he said and she was glad he didn't read into the words as a normal person might have done.

* * *

Erin spent the rest of the weekend and all of the next week rotating between trying to further decipher the tablets, and teaching the new, very hyper intern how to translate hieroglyphs to english. Zack's lab had apparently gotten another body to work on for the case, and she avoided the area as much as possible, partly because of the body, and partly because whenever she was around, Hodgins made snide innuendos about Zack's late day which he didn't understand and she would have to explain later.

They finished the case near the end of the week. Apparently the club owner was some big crime boss or something. Erin found the whole case much less interesting that the mummified remains of the first body had been.

The next weekend she spent a lot of time with Zack at his place, and she noticed that when he didn't have a case to work on, he was much more attentive to her. She, on the other hand, was very distracted. Now that she had acknowledged to herself, at least sort of, that she liked Zack as more than a friend, her heart began flipping over whenever he touched her, and her mind was clouded with indecision about whether to tell him or not. She was pretty sure that, if she presented the problem in the right way, he would be willing to continue their current arrangement, but she wasn't sure she wanted that or not. She had been doing her best not to think about the whole situation because if she actually came to a decision, that would make it real.

Sure, she had dated people in the past, but those had been people that she would never have to see again if it went badly. Even if Zack didn't stay at the Jeffersonian when he got his degree, chances were he would stay close by. Washington had a lot of high quality institutes that he could work at. And he was her best friend. Pretty much her only friend, actually. She didn't want to ruin that. Especially not if this was just a crush that would fade after a few months. That had happened to her before.

She would give it a couple months, she decided. That way if these feeling went away, everything could just stay the same. If they weren't gone by Christmas, she would have to tell him and see what she wanted to do.

"What are you thinking about?" Zack asked, his voice curious as he looked down at her. They had been laying in bed after a very satisfying, educational, couple hours, and her body felt very soft and relaxed, curled into Zack's side with her head resting on his shoulder. Her mind blanked for a moment at the question, not sure what to say.

"Nothing that matters right now," she settled on.

"You looked like you were thinking very hard. Your brow was drawn and you were frowning," he said, his voice matter of fact. She smiled but curled farther into him.

"I was thinking about my plans for Christmas," she said. It wasn't completely a lie. "What are you doing?"

"On Christmas Eve when Dr. Brennan takes her vacation I will go back home to Michigan and spend Christmas with my family," he said. "What will you do?"

"I'm not sure," she said. "I might go see my sister in Missouri. I haven't seen her in almost two years."

"Why so long?" He asked, and she was momentarily distracted by the feeling of his fingers ghosting up and down her back.

"Well, she's in the air force so she doesn't get a lot of time off," Erin said. "And I've been kinda busy with work and finishing my dissertation."

"And your family isn't very close," he said, the words making a statement, not a question. She considered arguing the point, but he was right. Over the almost three months they had been in this arrangement, Erin had noticed that Zack's parents called him every Saturday evening, and at least one of his siblings would call during the week, sometimes more than one. Her mothers last note had been an apology, of sorts, but underlaying the apology were little snippets that called Erin immature, selfish, and invited her to apologize to her mother, which she would not do.

On the other hand, Zack had been present for the one time her mother had stopped over, and had been present for two or three notes. Other than that, she was sure he had never even heard anything about her sister until today, and she wasn't sure she had ever mentioned her father to him.

She didn't dislike her father like she did her mother, but he did pretty much whatever her mom told him to. Erin had almost nothing in common with her dad, so they didn't have much to talk about anyway.

"No, we aren't close," she said after a moment, then sighed and moved to get out of bed. She collected her clothed from the floor of his room and pulled them on quickly, ignoring the slight chill in the air that seeped in from outside. "What do you want for dinner? We can order out or I can try to make something but you don't have a lot of food here."

"We could go out to a restaurant," Zack said, making Erin freeze, her shirt in her hands. "Angela said that we should go out to dinner together."

"Going out for dinner would be a date," Erin said after a few seconds of silence. She pulled her shirt on and straightened it, then finger combed her hair, watching Zack out of the corner of her eye.

"I've never been out on a date," he said, and she looked at him and sighed.

"Never?" She asked. He shook his head. "Well then lets go."

"Do we need to wear nicer clothes?" He asked, gesturing to her jeans and his that were still on the floor as he stood from the bed. He eyes glanced over his form for a second, then she busied herself with pushing her hair back into a ponytail.

"No, we won't go anywhere fancy," she said.

* * *

"Have you been on a date before?" He asked, as they rode in her car to the Italian restaurant they had decided on.

"Many," she said, chuckling. "It's pretty much the same thing as just going out to dinner with anyone else, except the conversation should stay around each others interests or something like that. I don't really know how to explain it."

"So it will be a public version of the dinner we had at your house three months ago," Zack said, nodding in understanding.

"Pretty much," Erin said.

"Why did Angela say that we should go out for dinner then?" He asked.

"Because Angela likes to meddle in other people's personal lives," Erin said, chuckling.

"I have noticed that," Zack said. "How many dates have you been on?"

"I have no idea," Erin said, shaking her head. "A lot."

"How many sexual partners have you had?" He asked in the same tone.

"That is not a very good way to ask that question," Erin said, grinning in amusement. Sometimes she forgot how socially inept Zack was, but things like this reminded her.

"What is a better way to ask?" He asked, voice curious.

"I dunno," she said. "There isn't really a polite was of asking that. Maybe say 'How many people have you slept with' instead. It's a little more polite I think."

"Well then, how many people have you slept with?" He asked.

"Um, eight. No, nine," she said, thinking. "Yeah, nine sounds right. Two of them were girls."

"You have had sex with girls?" He asked, but not in a judgmental kind of way, but rather as though he were studying something. "How exactly does that work, in a physical manner?"

"I'm not going to explain it to you," she said, shifting in her seat. "If you want to know, go on the internet and find some porn to watch."

She could see that he made a face out of the corner of her eye and she chuckled. She had given him that advice once before and she was pretty sure he had probably found some really weird stuff because he hadn't brought it up again. "We're here. I'll explain more later, but lets find a publicly appropriate conversation topic for dinner."

"Okay," he said, climbing out of the car with a focused look on his face as he thought. "Is work appropriate?"

"Mine is," she said, nodding as they went inside. "I'm not sure about yours though."

"We aren't working on a case right now," he said. "We are studying some of the bodies in Limbo." She waited until they were seated before continuing their conversation.

"Limbo?" She asked, frowning.

"We have a bone storage in the basement with thousands of unidentified skeletal remains," he explained, glancing over the menu. "Limbo seems like an appropriate name for the place."

"Where are they all from?" She asked, intrigued.

"All sorts of places," he said, shrugging. "Natural disasters, mass killings, old burial sites, anywhere that generates a lot of bodies that aren't required to be identified immediately. When we don't have a case or anything else in particular to work on, we go through some of them."

"Sort of like we do with artifacts and old writings," she said, nodding in understanding. "When we don't have anything new to work on, we go through old documents and translate them to english. We have thousands of parchments and photocopies waiting in storage."

"What is written on them?" He asked, setting his menu aside.

"Many of them are family histories with names and dates as the Egyptians kept them centuries ago," she said. "Some of them are old stories, some are documentation of what was included in a tomb at the burial. The newer ones are sometimes journals or studies, those are all written with ink."

"Interesting," he said. "I didn't realize the ancient Egyptians kept a record of their history."

"It's all very fragmented, but they did a pretty good job of it," she said, nodding. They ordered their food and sat in silence for a moment as Erin tried to think of another topic that would be safe to discuss in public.

"What happened to that important study you were doing last month?" Zack asked before Erin could think of something to say.

"I'm still working on it," she said, frowning. "Sort 's a translation, but it's a bit difficult."

"Does it usually take you a long time to finish a translation?" He asked. She wasn't sure if he was actually interested or if he was just taking her suggestion about small talk over dinner. It was a lot harder for her to read his emotions in public. He had a habit of masking them off around people he didn't know.

"It depends on the language it was written in and the quality of the original piece I have to work off of," she said. "Usually it doesn't take more than a week or two. Once I get a handle on the way the person wrote, I can go through the entire piece relatively quickly."

"So what is difficult about this one?" He asked, leaning back as the waitress set their plates of food in front of them. Erin thanked the woman and waited until she was gone to continue the conversation.

"It's… different than other works. Older. And it's written in a personal interpretation of the oldest Egyptian language we know of," she said, picking through her salad with her fork. "It's also written in code, I _think_. I can't get a grasp on the writing. I think that there must have been a key to it somewhere in the old palace where it was discovered, but I'm having some trouble contacting the archeologists that discovered the place and I need their photographs before I can continue working."

"Like clues at a crime scene," he said. She smiled and nodded.

"I have a theory," she said, her voice becoming lower as she leaned across the table towards him. He mirrored her actions subconsciously. "I haven't told anyone yet though because if I'm right, it would be a really big find and sometimes the people who did the actual discovering like to hover or push when you tell them it might be important and I want to make sure first."

"What's your theory?" He asked, his voice interested now.

"Well, the only word I've been able to translate accurately, probably, was the name Karanebti," she paused, but he didn't acknowledge that as something important. Not that she expected him to. "Around 2740 B.C. the pharaoh at the time was documented to have a sister named Karan. Not much was known about her except her birth and death dates recorded on the genealogy kept by someone in the household. Anyway, from what I've been able to gather, the texts I'm trying to translate are medical studies written in some sort of code. Back then, women were not allowed to do much more than care for children, especially a woman so high up. She would have been executed for doing medical studies or research, so she wrote everything in code. She hand carved everything into stone tablets. If anyone had found them at the time, they would have only been able to read nonsense. Being deemed stupid at the time was much safer than being caught studying medicine. Even many of the male healers of the time were killed because they were thought to be studying dark sorcery. It makes sense to me, but I can't figure out the code she used without the research teams pictures, or going there myself. I'm waiting for a response from the discovery team and it's been very frustrating."

"That sounds like a reasonable theory to me, but then, I don't know much about ancient Egyptian culture," Zack said, leaning back in his seat. "Surely if you told this theory to someone with more power to get you the photographs, things would move faster."

"I don't want the research to be taken away from me," she admitted. "I only just got my doctorates, and there are probably people that most would consider to be more qualified to do the work than I am."

"Why do you want to keep the project then?" He asked, and she couldn't tell what his thinking behind the question was. She frowned in thought.

"For one, if I'm wrong anything I say in the future will be easy to discredit or easily ignored. But more than that, I just want to figure this out. This woman was so oppressed, she probably lived in fear of being caught every day, but she still thought her findings important enough to carve into stone. It must have taken her weeks to finish even one tablet, months if she could only work on it in secret. She was intelligent enough to develop and write in her own code of a very loosely formed language, not to mention whatever discoveries she might have made. She deserves to be heard by someone who wants to study her, and most people in my field would only be excited about the magnitude of the find, not the history behind it."

They ate in silence for a moment.

"You talk about those writings the way that Dr. Brennan talks about bones," Zack said at last. Erin smiled.

"I'll take that as a compliment," she said. "Dr. Brennan is just… amazing. She's the kind of person that people should look up to."

"She is," he said, nodding in agreement. "So you aren't interested in the glory that comes with the find?"

"Well, maybe a little," she said, chuckling. "It would be huge for someone just starting out, but it's more than that."

"I understand," he said, setting his fork down. Her plate was still about half full of salad, but she wasn't really hungry, instead she was itching to get back to work on her project. "Aren't you going to finish your meal?" Zack asked as she set down her fork.

"Nah, I'm full," she said, pulling her wallet from her purse and grabbing the bill the waitress had left with their food.

"Shouldn't I pay, since this is a date?" Zack asked.

"Well since I suggested getting food, I'll pay," she said, grinning. "You can pay next time."

"There will be a next time?" He asked, getting to his feet. He reached for her hand to pull her out of the booth too.

"Definitely," she said. "This was pleasant."

"It was," he agreed.

"I'm getting concerned with your eating habits," Zack said when they were back in her car, heading back to his place.

"Why?" She asked, startled out of her line of thought about work. "I'm fine."

"What did you eat today?" Zack asked.

"You were with me the whole day, you probably remember better than I do," she said, shrugging.

"I do remember," he said. "You ate a bowl of cereal with me this morning, then skipped lunch in favor of watching a movie, and then you ordered a salad for dinner, which had very little nutritional value and you ate less than half of it."

"Why are you keeping tabs on my meals?" She asked, simultaneously feeling the need to chuckle and play it off as a joke, and get annoyed and tell him to mind his own business.

"I'm not," he said. "I just remember things like that."

"Uh huh," she said, focusing back on the road.

"You have stayed with me the entire weekend," he said, obviously not wanting to drop the subject. "On Friday I don't know what you ate for breakfast and lunch but you skipped dinner, and on Saturday you had some fruit for breakfast and a granola bar for lunch and nothing else."

"I just… don't get hungry very often," she said, shrugging. She couldn't remember if she'd stopped working for lunch on Friday, but she wasn't about to tell him that. "It's not a big deal."

"Estimating that you are about 5'7", and 24 years of age the healthy body weight for your height should be between 118 and 159 pounds," he said, glancing her over. "I estimate you to be lighter than that, maybe 115 at the most. Based off of that information you should be consuming at least 1700 calories per day, and since I happen to know that you go jogging at least three times a week, you should be consuming more than that to just maintain your current body weight."

"Why do you care how much I eat?" She asked, sighing. There was obviously no point in getting him to give up the topic. She might have tried to distract him from it, but she was tired, and she could feel a headache blooming.

"Lack of appetite could be a sign of multiple diseases or even-"

"I'm not sick," she interrupted, not wanting to hear the entire list of things that might cause lack of hunger. "I've always been a light eater."

"The lack of calorie intake can greatly weaken the muscles surrounding your lungs and heart which increases risk of heart disease and blood pressure decreases," he went on. She pulled the car up beside the wide garage and turned it off, then climbed out.

"Just drop it okay? I'm fine," she repeated. "I get a physical health check up every year like everyone else at the Jeffersonian does because it's required for our healthcare plan."

He nodded at that and was silent as he unlocked the apartment door. She frowned. Usually he would put more effort into his argument than that.

"What's really your reason, Zack?" She asked as she closed the door behind her.

"When I was in elementary school one of my sisters had an eating disorder," he began and she frowned, knowing where this was going. "She was anorexic for a long time. None of us knew until she ended up in a hospital one day."

"I'm sorry," Erin said, resting a hand on his arm.

"Well she's fine now," he said, shrugging. He didn't sound upset, and she was confused for a moment before remembering that this was Zack she was talking to. He didn't needlessly spend his emotions. "I was to understand that the topic of eating disorders, as well as mental health, are not to be talked about directly because many people find it an uncomfortable experience."

"I'm not anorexic," Erin assured him. "I just have a very high metabolism and I like to run sometimes, and once in a while I get so invested in my work or other things that I forget to stop for a meal, so now my body is used to skipping meals."

"I understand," he said, and she could hear the concern fade from his voice. She smiled. It was sort of nice to have someone care enough about her to forego a conversation topic that he thought was taboo and talk about it anyway. She hated being mothered and taken care of most of the time, but she had never had a relationship quite like the one she now had with Zack, and everything was new in it, including, apparently, her usual need to distance herself from everyone else and snap at them when they tried to tell her how to live or what to do with herself.

* * *

Thank you so much for reading :) Special thanks to my two reviewers!

Curious Katt: I'm glad you like it :) I'm pretty sure no one has reviewed so far because I posted chapters 1-7 within ten minutes of each other and chapter 8 like an hour after that. I'm glad my first review is good though, so thank you :D

Demona Evernight: Thank you :) I'm not too sure what I'm going to do for the end of this story but I have a half formed idea of what I want to happen around the Gormagon case but you won't like it. Maybe I'll come up with a better idea by the time I get to it though.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

"Hey, is it okay if we skip this weekend?" Erin asked as she walked back to her car with Zack on Thursday evening the next week.

"Yes," he said. "Do you have plans?"

"Sort of," she said, shrugging it off. "I'm going to my parents house after work on Friday."

"Oh, I see," he said, slinging his bad into the back seat of her car. She climbed in, then waited for him to put his seatbelt on before pulling out of the parking lot.

"I'm sure it'll be a lovely time," she said, pulling out onto the road.

"Is that sarcasm?" He asked, peering at her through the dark. She smiled and nodded.

"Most definitely sarcasm," she said. "I probably wouldn't be going at all but I haven't seen my dad in a while and I want to tell them I won't be around for Christmas. Or Thanksgiving, though I haven't come up with a good excuse for that one yet."

"On Thanksgiving we all go out to dinner," Zack said. "I can ask Dr. Brennan if I can invite you as well."

"Don't you guys all spend the holiday's with your families?" She asked, glancing over at him.

"None of us have any family in the area," he said. "It would be too much of an inconvenience to travel for both Thanksgiving and for Christmas."

"I suppose," she said, nodding. "Did you want to come over tonight or go home?"

"I think I would prefer to come over as long as I am not late to work again," he said, smiling a little. She grinned. Hodgins had just recently stopped teasing her about making Zack late during the last case, though it wasn't really her fault.

"I think I can manage to get you there in time since I also work tomorrow and my clock is fixed," she said, turning onto the road that would take them to her apartment rather than to Zack's place.

Erin spent all the next day trying to contact the archeologist group that had discovered her tablets. She had called them, written to them, emailed them, and still no response. The closest she had gotten was leaving a message with the receptionist at the museum in Cairo, where one of them worked. She wasn't sure that would work, but it was better than nothing she supposed.

She left a little early on Friday, giving herself time to go home, shower, and change into something her mother might deem acceptable for a home visit, which was still ten times fancier than Erin would have thought was appropriate. She was really hoping she wouldn't have to stay for dinner, that would be unpleasant, but she was going to be on her best behavior tonight in an attempt to fix things.

It was only a little after four when she pulled up to the house. It wasn't overly large, but it was a lot bigger than Erin thought they needed, seeing as it was only the two of them in the house now.

She hesitated, then knocked on the door instead of entering like she usually did. To her relief, her father opened it. He grinned and pulled her into a hug.

"Erin, it's been a while," he said, standing aside to let her into the house. "How are you?"

"I'm good," Erin said, relaxing when her mother didn't come dashing around a corner. "Is mom here?"

"No she's out," her father said, leading her into the living room. Erin let out a quiet sigh at that. This was better than she had hoped. "How's school going?"

"I'm done with it," Erin said, then grinned as her father stood to give her another hug. "I defended my dissertation paper at the end of last month."

"Well congratulations, Dr. Erin," he said, and she laughed. She had really missed spending time with her dad.

"It's Dr. James, actually," she corrected him. He grinned and shook his head.

"So what are you doing now? Will you be going off to Egypt?" He asked, leaning back in his chair.

"Probably not," she said. "I'm still working for the Jeffersonian, though if someone funds a search in Egypt I'll be one of the first ones picked for the team."

"That's fantastic," he said, nodding. He may not have understood why she liked Egypt so much, but he knew it made her happy and she always talked about it excitedly, and that was enough for him. If only her mother could do the same.

"I came by to tell you that I won't be around for Christmas, I plan on going down to see Liz," she said. Her mother would have made a fuss about this, but her father just nodded.

"That would probably be a good idea for you," he said, then sighed. "Your mother has been a little… difficult about all this, I know. I'm talking her around though."

"It's fine," she said, though that was mores to pacify her father. "I know she just likes to be controlling, I can handle it."

"I wish you would get along though, maybe then you would come by more often," he said, then shook his head. "But yes, she is eccentric."

"That's an understatement," Erin muttered, then sighed. "I'll try to come by more often. I've just been a bit busy."

"That's understandable," he said. "Well if you want to avoid your mother, you should probably get going."

"I don't want to avoid her," Erin said, but she got to her feet anyway.

"Well you are welcome to stay for dinner if you want," he said. "I'm not kicking you out or anything."

"No that's alright," she said. "I have a few things to work on for the weekend."

"I'll see you again soon though?" He asked, walking with her to the door. She grinned and nodded.

"Of course," she said. "I'll come by around Thanksgiving if you want."

"We'll be out of town for Thanksgiving," he said. "We are going down to Florida."

"That sounds nice," she said, relieved that she wouldn't have to make an excuse for that now too. "Have fun then and I'll see you when you get back."

"Okay, bye Erin," he said. She gave him a final hug and left, closing the door behind her.

She wasted no time in getting back on the road, not wanting to run into her mother on her way out. She was just debating whether or not to go home or back to work when her phone rang. She carefully pulled it out of her pocket, glad she was at a red light, and flipped it open without checking the caller.

"James," she said in a professional tone, in case it was from work.

"Erin it's Zack." She relaxed into her seat.

"Hi Zack, what's up?" She asked, turning her car toward the Jeffersonian subconsciously.

"Are you still at your parent's house?" He asked.

"Nope, just left," she said.

"Could you drive me out to a park?" He asked, and she chuckled.

"You could drive yourself if you had a license," she said. "I'll be at the Jeffersonian in about ten minutes but it's starting to get dark. Why do you want to go to a park in the dark?"

"It's for a case," he said.

"Of course it is," Erin said with a sigh. "You know, I actually like parks. Thinking about people being found dead in them is going to make me not like them anymore."

"I can ask someone else if you don't want to go," he said, not catching her tone. "I just thought you might be needing an excuse to leave by now."

"That's very thoughtful of you," she said, smiling. "I'll be outside your building in three minutes."

"Thank you Erin," he said, then hung up the phone.

When she pulled into the parking lot two minutes later, he was already standing by the doors, his large camera case in hand.

"So where are we off to?" She asked, pulling back towards the road.

"Turn left here and drive for 5.6 miles, then turn right until we are on the outskirts of town, then make another left," he said. Erin sighed and shook her head.

"You don't happen to know of actual road names do you?" She asked.

"The park is called Landmark," he said.

"Okay, I can work with that," she said. "I know where that is. So what's the case you are working on?"

"Have you ever heard of Howard Epps?" He asked, and Erin shuddered.

"Yes, I remember he killed a girl that went to my high school," she said, frowning. "My parent's wouldn't let me or Liz out of the house alone for that entire year.

"Well his defense lawyer doesn't think he did it. He's scheduled to be executed tomorrow and Dr. Brennan wants us to be absolutely sure it was him who killed her," Zack explained.

"I suppose that makes sense," she said. "But wasn't that over six years ago? What is going to the park now going to tell you?"

"I'm not sure, but we have to check everything," he said.

"Where are we going in? That park has about twenty different entrances," she said.

"Gate 25," he said. They rode in silence for a few moments. "Judging by your seemingly upbeat attitude, your visit to your parents house must have gone well. Do you ant to talk about it?"

"You sound like a therapist," she said, but she smiled anyway. "It was good because my mother wasn't there. And it turns out they are going out of town for Thanksgiving anyway so I didn't even need to make an excuse."

"Well Angela said I should invite you along when we go out for dinner on Thanksgiving," he said. "If you want to that is."

"Sounds fun," she said, nodding.

"It's not unpleasant," he said, and she chuckled.

"I'll be there then," she said. "Will you be working on this case for a while?"

"Overnight probably," he said. "We have a time limit on this."

"Makes sense," she said, finally pulling into the park. She drove until she found gate 25 and turned into it.

"Go to picnic area 10," he directed her. She pulled into the small picnic area, parking in one of the spots.

"Do you need me to do anything?" She asked, not wanting to get out of the car. It was fully dark now and the park gave off a menacing air, though maybe that was just because it was dark and empty and she knew that a murder had happened here.

"No, it'll only take a few minutes, you can stay here," he said, pulling the camera out of the bag in the back seat. She watched as he walked around the area, taking pictures of what looked like nothing to her. At least the space was mostly cleared, he never went out of the sight of her headlights. He was coming back to the car when he stopped, frowning. She was about to get out and ask him what was wrong when he took a picture of the parking spot next to her, then walked back toward the entry way. She did get out then, not wanting to let him out of sight. She followed him as he snapped a picture of the area number, then walked a little farther to get one of the gate number.

He pulled out his phone as they walked back to the car, but she couldn't understand most of what he was saying as he spoke too fast. He hung up within moments.

"I figured something out," he said, getting back into the car. "We need to get back to the lab as fast as possible."

"Okay," she said, climbing back int he car. She didn't want to ask him about what he had seen, she just wanted to get out of the creepy park.

They made it back to the lab within twenty minutes, which was fast, even for her and she regularly drove faster than the limit.

"I'm going to head home," she said, letting him climb out of the car. "Call me in the morning if you need anything. I can bring you clothes and stuff."

"Thank you Erin," he said, then surprised her by leaning in the open door and across the seats to kiss her. She grinned as he pulled away and went back inside the building, then frowned at herself, willing herself not to feel the pounding in her chest which had started when he had kissed her and had not yet calmed down by the time she made it back onto the road.

* * *

Zack did call her in the morning, but only to tell her that he was going home so he didn't need her to bring him anything. She didn't ask about the case since she was sure he wouldn't be able to tell her anything important.

The rest of the weekend passed quickly. Erin spent the time documenting her process of translating the tablets because she was sure that if they turned out to be important, others would want to know how she had discovered them. It was common to make a written report of translations anyway, so that there were no errors in the findings.

On Monday morning she eagerly went into work, almost two hours early, hoping there would be a message from the one archeologist on the original dig she had been able to almost contact. There was nothing new though, so she got to work going through more of the things in storage.

"Hey," a voice interrupted her work just before lunch. Erin looked up and smiled, setting her things aside on her desk.

"Hi Angela," she said, then frowned. Angela looked downhearted. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah," she said, shaking her head. "Want to have lunch with me?"

"Sure," Erin said, standing and stretching. "Can we go to that sandwich place across the street? I'm actually really hungry."

"Sure," Angela said, falling into step beside Erin. They walked in silence the whole way, which Erin gathered was odd for Angela.

"Are you sure there isn't something wrong?" Erin asked as they sat down at a table int he small shop. "I've noticed that you only seek me out when people at the lab are bothering you."

"They are all just so… robotic at times," Angela said, shaking her head.

"Is it that case you were all working on last Friday?" Erin asked.

"Yeah," Angela said, sighing. "The guy that we were investigating, Howard Epps…"

"I know of him," Erin said, frowning. "The girl he killed went to my high school."

"I'm sorry," Angela said.

"Did he definitely kill her then? Zack said you all weren't sure."

"He killed her," Angela said. "And we found two more bodies of girls he killed. It staid his execution, just like he wanted. He basically used us all."

"I'm sorry Angela," Erin said. "That really sucks."

"Yes, it does," she said.

"Is that why you wanted lunch today? To talk about the case?" Erin asked after a moment of silence.

"No," Angela said. "The opposite actually. I need to talk to someone who doesn't work with dead things for a while."

"I do work with dead things," Erin said, but she understood what Angela meant.

"But they have all been dead for decades, it's not the same," Angela said. Erin nodded.

"Centuries actually," she said. "But I get it. It's different when they have a family and a life and everything."

"I don't know how they can do this every day," Angela said, shaking her head as she picked apart the remains of her sandwich. "They go and talk to the murderers, and the families."

"They catch bad people though," Erin said. "And you make them human again, the victims. You give them faces and names and stories."

"I know," she said with a sigh. "It's just difficult sometimes."

"You aren't thinking about quitting are you?" Erin asked, frowning. "You are the most sane person n that lab, I think they need you."

"Thanks," she said with a snort of amusement. "I'm not leaving. I just need a break sometimes."

"Well whenever you get overwhelmed, come over to my department," Erin said. "I can bore you with old artifacts until you are begging to get back to your computers and dead things." That got the laugh she had intended, and Erin smiled.

"So how are things with you and Zack?" Angela asked, changing the subject. Erin frowned, but caught herself, quickly making her expression neutral. Angela raised an eyebrow at that though, so Erin new she had noticed. "Not good it seems."

"No," Erin said, shaking her head. "It's all fine."

"Doesn't sound like it," she said. "Come on, give me some details to gossip about."

"I'll give you details if you promise not to gossip about it," Erin said, and Angela looked almost surprised, like she hadn't actually expected Erin to talk to her.

"Cross my heart," Angela said, leaning forward over the table as though they were exchanging secrets.

"I want to date him, like for real instead of this whole friends with benefits thing," Erin said quickly before she lost her nerve. She didn't really have any other female friends, and though Angela was a new friend, Erin liked her and knew she would probably have some suggestions to make.

"So why aren't you?" Angela asked, leaning back.

"Well, when this whole thing started I sort of stipulated that feelings wouldn't be involved because I wasn't looking for anything serious at the time," Erin said, sighing. telling someone else about this did make her feel better, even if it did make her feelings even more real to her. "And what if I decide to go out with him for real, but then I change my mind later? Zack hasn't ever seriously dated someone before. I don't know how he would take it."

"Well, I think you should go for it," Angela said. "Zack might be a little different from regular guys, but I think he could handle a breakup so long as you explain it rationally."

"I guess," Erin said, frowning. "I was going to wait until Christmas time. He's going to go see his family so I was going to tell him right before he left so he would have time to think about it."

"That sounds a lot like running away from things to me," Angela said, frowning. "Just tell him now."

"I want to make sure I'm not going to feel differently in a few weeks though," Erin explained. "In the past when I've dated people it's only been for a few months at a time, and I don't want to do that to Zack. He seems like more of a 'long-term' type of person."

"I see what you mean," Angela said, nodding along. "So Christmas then?"

"Yeah," Erin said, nodding too. "And I'm only telling you that so that I feel more obligated to keep that timeline."

"I won't let you forget," Angela said, grinning. Erin chuckled and stood, ready to head back to work.

"I'm sorry about Epps," Erin said as they crossed the street. "At least he is still in jail though, even if he isn't dead."

"That's true," Angela said. "I just wish there was something more we could do."

"You could hire a prison assassin," Erin suggested, chuckling. "I'm sure there must be some way of doing that."

"No thanks," Angela said, laughing. "I'll let the system do it's work. There's no way he's every getting let out so that will have to be enough for me."

"Dr. James, there's a call for you from Cairo on line two," the bubbly intern called out as they neared the Egyptology department again. Erin grinned, then turned to Angela.

"This is important, I'll talk to you later," she said, then waved as she practically sprinted to her desk, the hyper intern following her in from the hallway.

"Dr. James," Erin said, picking up the phone.

"Hello Dr. James, this is Dr. Shoukry from the museum in Cairo," Erin frowned. That was not who she was trying to get in touch with. "I believe you've met my sister Nenet."

"Oh, yes," Erin said, connecting who she was speaking to. This man was the curator of the museum, the one that had been interested in her dissertation paper. "How can I help you Dr. Shoukry?"

"I'm calling about your dissertation paper," he said, and she frowned, not understanding why that warranted a call. "I've studied your research and I think that it's possible to build a prototype of the machine you have suggested here." Her mouth fell open. "I was calling to tell you that I'd like to but the idea from you. If it's successful you would receive a portion of the profits of course."

"I- Yeah, that sounds great," she said. "I'll have to put you in contact with the Jeffersonian's lawyers to figure out how to proceed. Since I was studying here when I came up with the idea, they technically own it as well."

"I understand," he said. "Please have them call my office and we can arrange a time to confer."

"Of course," Erin said, pausing to jot down the number he gave her. They exchanged pleasantries then she hung up the phone and sat in her chair, thinking. If her design was put into production and actually worked, she would make quite a bit of income from it, even if most of the money would go to the Jeffersonian.

She spent the rest of the day in a daze, going through all her work mechanically and with very little thought.

* * *

Hey everyone! Sorry for the kind of short chapter but thanks for reading! Please let me know what you think.

Demona Evernight: But I have such a dramatic subplot for the Gormagon case. I love drama XD I also miss Zack though so maybe I'll come up with an alternative that is equally dramatic. Thanks for the review :)

Curious Kat: Thanks for reviewing :) I have no idea when I will be updating. I have found that when I put a time limit of how long I have to write I don't enjoy the story anymore so then I end up never working on it. So you can expect random sporadic updates whenever I get a somewhat good idea to write about.


End file.
